Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971 - Social Networks and Archival Context (original) (raw)

Painter; New York, N.Y.

From the description of Rockwell Kent interview, 1957 Sept. 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80242441

Painter, illustrator, writer, lecturer; Ausable Forks, New York.

From the description of Rockwell Kent letters to Robert T. Hatt, 1935-1936. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122553040

In addition to being a successful painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer, and commercial artist, Kent pursued careers as a writer, professional lecturer, and dairy farmer. He travelled extensively, and was a political activist who supported the causes of organized labor, civil liberties, civil rights, anti-Fascism, and peace and friendship with the Soviet Union.

From the description of Oral history interview with Rockwell Kent, 1969 Feb. 26-27 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 495595103

From the description of Rockwell Kent interviews, 1969 Feb. 26-Feb. 27. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220183689

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was a landscapes, book prints and advertisements illustrator as well as a social reformer and activist for the working class.

From the description of Pat Alger collection of works by Rockwell Kent. [multimedia]. (Boston Public Library). WorldCat record id: 57636797

Artist.

From the description of Papers of Rockwell Kent [manuscript], 1914-1921, 1965. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647804940

BIOGHIST REQUIRED American artist, travel writer, and political activist.

From the guide to the Rockwell Kent Papers, ca.1885-1970., (Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, )

Rockwell Kent was one of the leading illustrators and artists in America. He was a printmaker, illustrator, painter, lobsterman, ship's carpenter, and dairy farmer. He lived in Maine, Newfoundland, Alaska, Greenland, and the Adirondacks. Kent was born in Tarrytown Heights, New York in 1882. He studied art at the Horace Mann School in New York and architecture at Columbia University. He studied art with William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Abbot Thayer. His first one-man gallery show was in 1908. In the 1920s, Kent worked as a successful printmaker. By the 1930s, he reached the height of his popularity. In the 1940s, however, Kent's popularity declined. After Kent failed to find a repository for his collection, a body of work consisting of eighty paintings and 800 drawings, it was donated to the Soviet Union. Kent was the author of several books and a popular lecturer on his travels and art during the 1930s and 1940s. Throughout his life, he was a left-wing activist and was blacklisted by Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He was a member of the Socialist Party and a promoter of civil rights and civil liberties. Kent received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967 and donated some of the proceeds to North Vietnam. He died in 1971.

From the guide to the Rockwell Kent letters, 1955-1962, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)

Rockwell Kent and Carl Zigrosser met when Kent came to Columbia University to speak in late 1910. Zigrosser, then an undergraduate, was captivated by the adventurous lifestyle and forceful character of the artist, and a friendship ensued. A new element was added in 1919 with Zigrosser's employment as an art dealer at the Weyhe Gallery; Zigrosser's thorough, mild and intellectual nature made him an important element in the most productive 20 years of Kent's career. Their close and complex friendship endured until Kent's death in 1971.

From the description of Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1911-1971, n.d. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 213465778

American artist, travel writer, and political activist.

From the description of Rockwell Kent papers, ca.1885-1970. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 320411375

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was a painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer, and commercial artist.

Kent also pursued careers as as a writer, professional lecturer, and dairy farmer. He travelled extensively, and was a political activist who supported the causes of organized labor, civil liberties, civil rights, anti-Fascism, and peace and friendship with the Soviet Union.

From the description of Rockwell Kent papers, [circa 1840]-1993 (bulk 1935-1961). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 301785647

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was a painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer, and commercial artist.

Kent also pursued careers as as a writer, professional lecturer, and dairy farmer. He travelled extensively, and was a political activist who supported the causes of organized labor, civil liberties, civil rights, anti-Fascism, and peace and friendship with the Soviet Union.

From the description of Rockwell Kent papers, [circa 1840]-1993, bulk 1935-1961. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 669910306

Painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer, and commercial artist.

Kent also pursued careers as as a writer, professional lecturer, and dairy farmer. He travelled extensively, and was a political activist who supported the causes of organized labor, civil liberties, civil rights, anti-Fascism, and peace and friendship with the Soviet Union.

From the description of Rockwell Kent papers, [ca. 1840]-1993 (bulk ca. 1935-1961). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220176450

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), an energetic and multitalented man, pursued many interests and careers during his very long and active life. At various times he was an architect, draftsman, carpenter, unskilled laborer, painter, illustrator, printmaker, commercial artist, designer, traveler/explorer, writer, professional lecturer, dairy farmer, and political activist.

While studying architecture at Columbia University, Kent enrolled in William Merritt Chase's summer school at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. He then redirected his career ambitions toward painting and continued to study with Chase in New York. Kent spent a summer working and living with Abbott H. Thayer in Dublin, New Hampshire, and attended the New York School of Art, where Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller were his teachers.

Critically and financially, Kent was a successful artist. He was very well known for his illustration work--particularly limited editions of the classics, bookplates, and Christmas cards. He was a prolific printmaker, and his prints and paintings were acquired by many major museums and private collectors. During the post-World War II era, Kent's political sympathies resulted in the loss of commissions, and his adherence to artistic conservatism and outspoken opposition to modern art led to disfavor within art circles. After many years of declining reputation in this country and unsuccessful attempts to find a home for the Kent Collection, Kent gave his unsold paintings--the majority of his oeuvre--to the Soviet Union, where he continued to be immensely popular.

An avid traveler, Kent was especially fascinated by remote, Arctic lands and often stayed for extended periods of time to paint, write, and become acquainted with the local inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1935, he wrote and illustrated several popular books about his experiences in Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland. In the 1930s and 1940s, Kent was much in demand as a lecturer, making several nationwide tours under the management of a professional lecture bureau; he spoke mainly about his travels, but among his standard lectures were some on "art for the people."

In 1927, Kent purchased Asgaard Farm at AuSable Forks, New York, in the Adirondacks, where he lived for the remainder of his life, operating a modern dairy farm on a modest scale for many years.

As a young man, Kent met Rufus Weeks, became committed to social justice, and joined the Socialist Party. Throughout his life, he supported left-wing causes and was a member or officer of many organizations promoting world peace and harmonious relations with the Soviet Union, civil rights, civil liberties, antifascism, and organized labor. Kent was frequently featured as a celebrity sponsor or speaker at fund-raising events for these causes. In 1948, he ran unsuccessfully as the American Labor Party's candidate for Congress. Kent's unpopular political views eventually led to the dissolution of his dairy business, resulted in a summons to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and prompted the U.S. State Department to deny him a passport, an action that subsequently was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kent wrote two autobiographies, This Is My Own (1940) and It's Me, O Lord (1955). In 1969, he was the subject of an oral history interview conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.

From the guide to the Rockwell Kent papers, circa 1840-1993, bulk 1935-1961, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was an American artist and illustrator; both his work and his personal life were strongly influenced by his antipathy towards social injustice.

Born June 21, 1882 in Tarrytown Heights, New York, Kent studied architecture at Columbia University and painting with Robert Henri, William Merritt Chase, and Abbott H. Thayer (though he worked as a lobsterman, carpenter, contractor, and dairy farmer as well). In 1905 his first painting was shown at the National Academy of Design. In 1916 he set himself up as a corporation and sold shares to his friends to finance his passage to Alaska, where his oil paintings and drawings established his reputation.

Kent quickly became known as one of America's foremost illustrators, providing artwork for editions of Moby Dick, Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Leaves of Grass, and Faust, among others. In addition to painting, Kent produced wood engravings and lithographs and published several books of monologues and incidental writings. He wrote and illustrated several books based on his travels to Alaska, Tierra del Fuego and Greenland. Kent served as a consulting editor for The Colophon and edited a periodical devoted to contemporary trends, Creative Art . Later in life he wrote and illustrated two autobiographies, This Is My Own and It's Me, O Lord

Kent's strong antipathy towards social injustice influenced both his art and his personal life. He was one of many artists and intellectuals who protested the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti and he served as president of the International Workers Order, a Communist-affiliated, ethnically organized fraternal order. In 1938 the U.S. Post Office asked him to paint a mural in their headquarters in Washington, DC; Kent included (in Inuit dialect and in tiny letters) an antigovernment statement in the painting, which caused some consternation. In 1953 he refused to answer the accusation that he was a member of the Communist Party. As a consequence of his outspoken leftist beliefs, his reputation in the United States declined somewhat in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960 Kent donated several hundred paintings and drawings to the Soviet Union, which responded by making him an honorary member of their academy of Fine Arts and awarding him the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967. Kent donated the prize money to the people of North Vietnam.

Rockwell Kent died March 13, 1971. The New York Times described him as "...a thoughtful, troublesome, profoundly independent, odd and kind man who made an imperishable contribution to the art of bookmaking in the United States."

(Sources: Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2002; World Authors 1900-1950, 1996 © The H. W. Wilson Company)

From the guide to the Rockwell Kent Collection, 1927, 1949, undated, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)