Rockwell Kent (1882-1971)
Rockwell Kent was a critically acclaimed painter, muralist, printmaker, book illustrator, graphic artist, expert on typography, architect, builder, and craftsman. He lived in Maine, Newfoundland, Alaska, Greenland, and the Adirondacks. He was also an author, lecturer, explorer, farmer, dairyman, social activist, and amateur politician. His individuality, nonconformist views, and outspoken support of leftist causes during the early twentieth century through the 1950s brought him denunciation at the height of his career, a situation which was rectified towards the end of his life and after his death. Since the 1970s, his work has been the focus of numerous exhibitions and the demand for it has created a whole new generation of collectors. Kent was born into a wealthy New York industrialist family in 1882 in Tarrytown Heights, New York. Early in his life, Kent was introduced through travel and surroundings to fine art and architecture. He studied architecture for three years at Columbia University, then changed his focus to art and began attending William Merritt Chase’s Summer Art Classes in Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, as well as the New York School of Art, where he studied with Robert Henri, and befriended George Bellows.
Information courtesy of Skinner Inc.