American Art Collaborative

Rockwell Kent created "Weltschmerz" on a 1919 trip to Alaska. Bold, with dramatic contrasts of black and white, it is one of a series of figure compositions exploring the theme of the essential loneliness of man. The title, "Weltschmerz," meaning the pain of the world, refers not only to the crucified Jesus paying for the sins of mankind, as the man’s position suggests, but also to the inevitable isolation of man. One of the greatest illustrators of the 20th century, Kent gained national renown for his work in the 1930 reprint of Herman Melville’s "Moby Dick."