Rockwell Kent(1882-1971)
- Art Department
Noted painter and author Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown Heights,
New York, on June 31, 1883. He was an architecture student at Columbia
University in New York City but dropped out in his third year to pursue
an art career. For ten years he held a variety of jobs--lobsterman and
carpenter, among others--to support himself while trying to establish
himself as an artist, but met with little or no success in that field.
In 1917 he traveled to Alaska to paint and make woodcuts, and the works
he did there were finally published in 1920 in the book "Wilderness: A
Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska", and met with almost instant
success. He published several more books containing his works over the
years. He became known as one of America's most successful and
influential artists and illustrators, and many of his works were
purchased for permanent exhibition in major museums both in the US and
abroad.
One of his more controversial works was done in 1938 when he painted a mural on the Post Office Building in Washington, DC, and in the mural he painted a message in an obscure Eskimo dialect. Many conservative religious and political organizations condemned him as a Communist, a leftist and a troublemaker for this "radical" message--even though most of them had no idea what it said, since few people in the US could read or write that dialect--and he had further run-ins with the more reactionary elements of US society over the years because of his art and politics. He was investigated by the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for "subersive activities" throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and his being awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union in 1967 did nothing to calm the controversy.
In addition to his paintings, he was also highly regarded as an illustrator, and illustrated editions of William Shakespeare's works, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" and Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", among others. He was also renowned for his work in lithographs and woodcuts.
Rockwell Kent died in Plattsburgh, New York, on March 13, 1971.
One of his more controversial works was done in 1938 when he painted a mural on the Post Office Building in Washington, DC, and in the mural he painted a message in an obscure Eskimo dialect. Many conservative religious and political organizations condemned him as a Communist, a leftist and a troublemaker for this "radical" message--even though most of them had no idea what it said, since few people in the US could read or write that dialect--and he had further run-ins with the more reactionary elements of US society over the years because of his art and politics. He was investigated by the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for "subersive activities" throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and his being awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union in 1967 did nothing to calm the controversy.
In addition to his paintings, he was also highly regarded as an illustrator, and illustrated editions of William Shakespeare's works, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" and Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", among others. He was also renowned for his work in lithographs and woodcuts.
Rockwell Kent died in Plattsburgh, New York, on March 13, 1971.