Rockwell Kent

American Painter, Printmaker, Illustrator, Designer, and Writer

By Amy Spencer

I. Biography

Rockwell Kent, an adventurous and multifaceted artist, pursued a wide range of interests throughout his long and active life. He traveled extensively, from the remote northern regions of Greenland and Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America, continually writing, sketching, and painting with remarkable intensity. In addition to his painting, Kent gained recognition as an accomplished illustrator and a prolific printmaker. Today, his works are represented in every major American museum, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art.

Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York, on June 21, 1882. His father, a successful lawyer, provided a comfortable upbringing in Manhattan, Long Island, and the Hudson River Valley until his death from typhoid in 1887. Following this loss, Kent’s mother raised him and his two siblings with the support of wealthy relatives. His aunt, an accomplished ceramics painter who joined the household, became a formative influence. At the age of thirteen, she took Kent on a trip to Europe, an experience that likely sparked his enduring passion for travel and exploration.

Kent attended the Cheshire Academy and later enrolled at the Horace Mann School, where he studied mechanical drawing and woodworking. During this period, he assisted his aunt in painting and selling ceramics and chinaware, an early engagement with applied arts that foreshadowed his later design work.

In the summer of 1900, Kent enrolled at William Merritt Chase’s School of Art at Shinnecock, Southampton, Long Island, where he excelled and earned a full scholarship to Chase’s New York School of Art (now Parsons The New School for Design). However, due to financial constraints and at his mother’s urging, he shifted to the School of Architecture at Columbia College (now Columbia University), delaying a full commitment to the fine arts.

While at Columbia, Kent briefly worked as an architectural illustrator but ultimately returned to his artistic ambitions. In 1903, he enrolled in the New York School of Art, where he studied under Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller, alongside fellow students George Bellows and Edward Hopper. That same year, Kent’s aunt introduced him to the painter Abbott Thayer, who invited Kent to apprentice at his Dublin, New Hampshire studio. Thayer’s naturalist philosophy and quasi-mystical reverence for nature deeply influenced Kent, who returned to Dublin for many years and eventually married Thayer’s niece, Kathleen Whiting, in 1908. The couple had five children.

In 1905, Kent first visited Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. Captivated by its rugged beauty, he returned the following year, building a home on Horn’s Hill. Kent spent subsequent years living seasonally on Monhegan, supporting himself with manual labor as a teamster, longshoreman, and well driller while producing some of his most dynamic seascapes. These works, which juxtaposed turbulent seas and skies against the stark geometry of cliffs and rocks, formed the basis of his first solo exhibition at New York’s William Clausen Gallery in 1907.

Kent’s travels next took him and his young family to Brigus, Newfoundland, from 1914 to 1915. Although he initially intended to establish an art school there, his public fondness for German culture—expressed through his frequent singing of German songs—aroused local suspicion on the eve of World War I, ultimately leading to his expulsion from the community under accusations of espionage.

Drawn to northern climates, Kent spent eight months in Alaska from 1918 to 1919, living with his young son in a cabin on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay. There, he painted by day and drew by lamplight, while also developing his skills as a wood-engraver. These works not only captured the raw physical power of nature but also explored themes of isolation, endurance, and spiritual transcendence.

In 1920, Kent published Wilderness, a collection of letters written during his time in Alaska, and exhibited his Alaskan paintings and drawings at Knoedler’s Gallery in New York. The New York Times praised the exhibition, noting that “Mr. Kent has found the thin air of the north stimulating to his poetic intelligence. He thinks more profoundly, sees more clearly, and gives his imagination more vigorous play than when he painted in a different latitude.” The success of these exhibitions brought Kent both critical acclaim and financial security.

Kent moved his family to Egypt Farm in Arlington, Vermont, in 1919 but continued to seek adventure. In 1922, he traveled alone to Tierra del Fuego, where he hiked across Brecknock Pass and attempted to sail around Cape Horn in a converted lifeboat. These experiences culminated in a major exhibition at Wildenstein Gallery in 1924.

Kent divorced Kathleen Whiting in 1925 and married Frances Lee the following year. The couple settled at Asgaard Farm near Au Sable Forks, New York, where they built a large house and operated a dairy farm. Although Asgaard became Kent’s permanent home, he continued to travel widely, visiting France and Ireland between 1925 and 1928, and Denmark and Greenland in 1929. He returned to Greenland in 1931–32 and 1934–35, developing a deep admiration for the culture and resilience of its Indigenous inhabitants, whom he portrayed with empathy in his work.

By the 1930s, Kent increasingly turned to commercial illustration. His celebrated projects included editions of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1930), Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1934), Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1936), and The Complete Works of Shakespeare (1936). He also accepted commissions from General Electric, Rolls Royce, and Westinghouse, and in 1937, he was commissioned by the Federal Public Works Administration to create two murals for the Washington, D.C. post office.

Following his final trip to Greenland, Kent enjoyed immense popularity; however, by the 1940s his focus shifted increasingly toward politics. Now in his sixties, he traveled less, devoting himself to life at Asgaard Farm while continuing to paint. He divorced Frances Lee in 1940 and married Sally Johnstone, who was more than thirty years his junior. That same year, Kent published This Is My Own, a semi-autobiographical book that outlined his socialist convictions and criticized U.S. foreign policy in the years leading to World War II, igniting significant controversy.

In 1953, Kent’s outspoken political views and efforts to promote cultural exchange with the Soviet Union led to his investigation by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Committee on Un-American Activities. His overseas travel was temporarily restricted until, following a lawsuit, his passport was reinstated in 1958. Nevertheless, Kent’s reputation in the United States suffered, and his work was largely excluded from galleries and museums. In protest, he donated eighty paintings and numerous illustrations to the Soviet Union in 1960, where his art remained highly esteemed. In 1967, Kent became the first American artist to receive the Lenin Peace Prize.

In 1969, Kent’s home at Asgaard Farm was struck by lightning, destroying much of its contents. Undeterred at age eighty-seven, he immediately undertook plans to rebuild the house, completing the project before his death from a heart attack on March 13, 1971. He was buried at Asgaard Farm, the home that anchored his extraordinary life of art, adventure, and defiance.

II. Chronology

• 1882 Rockwell Kent is born in Tarrytown, New York, on June 21 and is raised in an affluent family moving between their multiple homes in Manhattan, Long Island, and the Hudson River Valley
• 1887 Father, Rockwell Kent Sr., dies
• 1894–1896 Studies at Cheshire Academy
• 1895 At age thirteen, an aunt, who is a ceramic artist, takes him on a tour of Europe
• 1896 Attends Horace Mann School
• 1900 Spends summer in painting classes at William Merritt Chase’s Shinnecock School in Southampton, Long Island (also in 1901 and 1902)
• 1900–1902 Studies architecture at Columbia University; however, towards the end of his degree, decides to pursue a career as an artist
• 1904 Enrolls in the New York School of Art, alongside George Bellows and Edward Hoppers, where his teachers include Chase, Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller
• Meets Rufus Weeks and attends first Socialist meeting
• 1905 Abbott Thayer hires Kent as his summer assistant at his New Hampshire studio
• Visits Monhegan Island, off the southern coast of Maine, upon the recommendation of mentor Robert Henri
• 1907 Has first one-man show at the William Clausen Gallery in New York
• 1908 Marries Abbott Thayer’s niece, Kathleen Whiting, with whom he has five children
• Joins the Socialist Party
• 1909 Birth of first son, Rockwell III
• 1910 Runs the Monhegan Summer School of Art
• 1911 Helps organize a show for the Society of Beaux Arts Architects in Manhattan, where he meets and befriends painter Marsden Hartley
• Birth of first daughter, Kathleen
• 1912 Moves to Winona, Minnesota
• 1913 Birth of daughter, Clara
• 1914–1915 Lives in Newfoundland
• 1915 Birth of daughter Barbara
• 1917 Serves as full time organizer and administer of Independent Exhibition
• 1918 Duncan Phillips, founder of The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, begins acquiring Kent’s paintings
• 1918–1919 Visits Alaska with eldest son
• 1919 Purchases Egypt Farm, Arlington, Vermont
• 1920 Publishes and illustrates Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska
• Birth of Son, Gordon
• 1922 Travels to Tierra del Fuego, Chile
• 1924 Publishes and illustrates Voyaging: Southward from the Strait of Magellan
• 1925 Takes a trip to France
• Divorces Kathleen Whiting
• Phillips offers Kent a stipend of three hundred dollars a month in return for the first selection of two paintings each year (Kent only accepts this offer for one year)
• 1926 Marries Frances Lee
• Visits Ireland
• 1927 Purchases Asgaard Farm, a dairy farm near Au Sable Forks, New York
• Works as editor of Creative Art
• Helps organize National Gallery of Contemporary Art in Washington, DC
• 1929 Visits Greenland
• 1930 Illustrates Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
• Publishes N by E
• 1931–1933 Returns to Greenland
• 1934 Illustrates Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
• 1934–1935 Final trip to Greenland
• Publishes Salamina
• 1936 Travels to Puerto Rico
• Illustrates Voltaire’s Candide, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and The Complete Works of Shakespeare
• 1937 Travels to Brazil
• 1937–38 Commissioned by the Federal Public Works Administration to create two murals for the newly built post office in Washington, DC
• 1939 Divorces Frances Lee
• Creates Mural for General Electric at New York World’s Fair
• 1940 Publishes This Is My Own
• Marries Shirley (Sally) Johnstone, his junior by over thirty years
• 1946 Elected to Executive Committee of the American Labor Party
• Publishes and illustrates To thee! A toast in celebration of a century of opportunity and accomplishment in America, 1847–1947
• 1948 Is Congressional candidate for the American Labor Party
• Transfers ownership of dairy to remaining employees after boycott resulting from his support of the Progressive Party’s Henry Wallace for president
• 1949 Attends World Congress for Peace in Paris
• 1950s Art is shunned by galleries and museums across America because of his leftist ideology and perceived un-American support for the Soviet Union
• 1950–1958 Denied U.S. passport; a lawsuit and appeals to the Supreme Court results in the reinstatement of Kent’s right to travel
• 1953 Testifies before the House Committee on Un-American Activities
• 1955 Publishes and illustrates It’s me, O Lord; the autobiography of Rockwell Kent
• 1958 Has one man show at the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad
• 1959 Publishes Of Men and Mountains
• 1960 In defiance of his homeland’s rebuff, Kent gifts a large part of his collection to the Friendship House in Moscow
• Exhibits at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow
• 1963 Publishes Greenland Journal
• 1966 Elected to the Academy of Arts of the U.S.S.R.
• 1967 Awarded the Lenin Peace Price in Moscow
• 1969 Home at Au Sable Forks is destroyed by a fire
• Papers that survive the fire are donated to the Archives of American Art
• 1971 Dies of a heart attack on March 13, in Plattsburgh, New York, and is buried on Asgaard Farm

III. Collections

• Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
• Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, NY
• American University, Washington DC
• Anchorage Museum of History and Art, AK
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Art Gallery at the University of Maryland
• Art Institute of Chicago
• Baltimore Museum of Art
• Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, DE
• Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, IL
• Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
• Brigham Young University Museum of Art, UT
• Brooklyn Museum
• Brown University, Providence, RI
• Canton Museum of Art, OH
• Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
• Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences, Charleston, WV
• Cleveland Museum of Art
• Colby College Museum of Art, ME
• Columbus Museum of Art, OH
• Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
• Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
• Currier Gallery of Art, NH
• Dallas Museum of Art
• Dayton Art Institute, OH
• Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
• Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• Fitchburg Art Museum, FA
• Five College Museums, MA
• Flint Institute of Arts, MI
• Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
• Harvard University Art Museums, MA
• Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
• Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC
• Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
• Hunter Museum of American Art, TN
• Indianapolis Museum of Art
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT
• Maier Museum of Art at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, VA
• Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, MA
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
• National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
• National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY
• New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
• Ogunquit Museum, ME
• Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University, PA
• Peabody Art Collection at the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Phillips Collection, Washington DC
• Plattsburgh State University Art Museum, NY
• Portland Museum of Art, ME
• Princeton University Art Museum, NJ
• Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
• Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College, CA
• Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NB
• Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, IL
• Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
• Southern Alleghenies Museum, PA
• Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, NY
• Tampa Museum of Art, FL
• Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago
• University of Kentucky Art Museum
• University of Pennsylvania
• Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
• Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania
• Whitney Museum of American Art
• Wichita Art Museum, KS
• Worcester Art Museum, MA

IV. Exhibitions

• 1904 Society of American Artists, NY
• 1907 William Clausen Gallery, NY
• 1920 Knoedler’s Gallery, NY
• 1924 Wildenstein Gallery, NY
• 1927 “Paintings by Rockwell Kent,” Wildenstein Galleries, NY
• “Fifty Prints Exhibited by the Institute,” American Institute of Graphic Art, NY
• 1928 “Rockwell Kent, Exhibition of Paintings,” Carnegie Institute, PA
• 1934 “Greenland and Other Subjects by Rockwell Kent,” Macbeth Gallery, NY
• “Rockwellkentiana,” Old White Art Gallery, WV
• 1937 Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, NY
• 1942 “Know and Defend America,” Wildenstein Galleries
• 1958 Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg)
• 1960 Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• 1969 “Rockwell Kent: The Early Years,” Bowdoin College Museum of Art, ME
• 1977 “Rockwell Kent’s World – A Retrospective,” Hammer Galleries, NY
• 1983 “Rokuėl Kent, 1882-1971,” Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• 1985 “An Enkindled Eye: The Paintings of Rockwell Kent, A Retrospective Exhibition,” Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1985
• 1996 “Serving Art: Rockwell Kent’s Salamina Dinnerware,” Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, MN
• 1998 “Rockwell Kent on Monhegan,” Monhegan Museum, ME
• 1999 “The view from Asgaard: Rockwell Kent’s Adirondack Legacy,” The Adirondack Museum, New York
• 2000 “Distant Shores: The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent,” Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
• 2005 “Rockwell Kent: The Mythic and the Modern,” Portland Museum of Art, ME

V. Memberships

• American Labor Party
• Academy of Arts of the U.S.S.R.

VI. Notes

“Notes on Current Art: The Alaskan Paintings of Rockwell Kent,” The New York Times, March 7, 1920, p.10.

VII. Suggested Resources

• Ferris, Scott. Rockwell Kent’s Forgotten Landscapes. Camden, Me.: Down East Books, 1998.
• Ferris, Scott. Generations: The Artistic Heritage of Rockwell Kent. Seattle: Frye Art Museum, 2002.
• Kent, Rockwell. It’s me, O Lord: the Autobiography of Rockwell Kent. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1955.
• Martin, Constance and West, Richard V. Distant Shores: The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent. Chesterfield, Mass.: Chameleon Books, Inc.; Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press; Stockbridge, Mass.: Norman Rockwell Museum, 2000.
• West, Richard V. et al. An Enkindled Eye: The Paintings of Rockwell Kent, a Retrospective Exhibition. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1985.
• Wien, Jake Milgram. Rockwell Kent: The Mythic and the Modern. Manchester, Vt.; New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2005.