Artist of the moment……Rockwell Kent

{ February 2, 2014 @ 4:24 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: american, communist party sympathizer, graphics design, painter, poster design, rockwell kent }

Rockwell Kent was an American painter and illustrator born in 1882 in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was a highly prolific printmaker and reminds me of another American born artist named Elizabeth Catlett. Both artists enjoyed using art to promote causes they believe in. Catlett produced small pamphlets helping those with limited reading skills be able to read and communicate their ideas. Kent also painted a large body of work with landscapes as his subject. Kent painted works showing the landscapes of New York, Alaska, Vermont, and Minnesota.

The book he illustrated that garners the most attention were some limited editions of 1,000 that he made of the book Moby Dick.

He was commissioned by the United States government to paint murals on new buildings. Sometimes he would sneak in his own comments and ideas on their work in tiny letters or in Inuit syllables writing.

Kent illustrated several magazines and had many cover issues to his credit.

For his artistic education Kent studied at the Art Students League of New York City and also with private classes at ateliers. Some instructors include William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri.

Kent did work for many causes, but his feelings of sympathy for the Communist party of the Soviet Union were not always looked upon favorably. This illustration was done to raise funds for the Communist Party relief fund in 1943.

The artist also did illustrative works to promote the cause of the Spanish and their own civil war, below a great example of one of these  illustrations.

In this clip we view some reality television far better than the Kardashians or the Jersey Shore, the Antiques Roadshow. We view a guest who owns a painting by Rockwell Kent:

Price range information: Works range from $3,000 to engravings and lithographs. The artist was very productive and liked to promote causes he believed in. Original oils can reach as high as $250,000.

Rockwell Kent was also elected to the National Academy of Design.

Below a short clip from a documentary made about the life of Rockwell Kent:

Rockwell Kent passed away in 1971 at the age of 88 years of age.

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