| Rockwell Kent | ||
| Birth Date: June 21, 1882 |
||
| Death Date: March 13, 1971 Artist Gallery |
||
| Rockwell Kent was born to a wealthy family in Tarrytown Heights, New York in 1882. After his father’s death, his family urged Kent to put aside his love for art and focus on a more “practical” profession. Kent went on to study architecture and was granted a full scholarship to Columbia University.
Half way through his senior year at Columbia, Kent abandoned architecture to devote his time to study painting under Robert Henri. It was through Henri’s advice that Kent went to Monhegan, an island off the coast of Maine; an experience which provided him with subject matter throughout his career. Kent often painted wilderness and landscapes inspired by the Monhegan area.
Kent stated that he was, even at a young age, “disturbed by the fact that there are some people with a lot of money and a lot of people with no money”. His humanistic views and political opinions led some to accuse him of being a communist and caused him to be brought before the House Committee of Un-American Activities in 1939. Art galleries soon blackballed Kent’s work and many were even boycotting the milk produced by his farm.
Remembered equally as a painter, lithographer, wood engraver, illustrator, architect, farmer, politician, and writer, Kent was also a father and a husband. At the time of his death in 1971, he was memorialized with a front-page obituary in the New York Times- an exceptional feat for any artist.
|
||