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From 1905 until 1910 Kent lived on Monhegan Island, Maine, where he painted this scene.

Despite the relatively serene conditions, Kent imbued the landscape with a sense of drama and magnitude.

The broad brushstrokes showcase the influence of Kent’s teachers William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri.

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Rockwell Kent

Winter Landscape, 1909

oil on canvas

38 x 44 in.

James E. Roberts Fund

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Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York and lived most of his early life around New York City.  An Aunt encouraged Kent to pursue his talent in art.  He studied mechanical drawing and woodworking at the Horace Mann School in New York and later joined William Merritt Chase’s summer classes at Shinnecock, Long Island. He learned to paint out of doors from Chase.  Kent then studied at the New York School of Art with Robert Henri.  He became an avid traveler who the support of Duncan Phillips, founder of the Phillips Collection in Washington D. C.  Kent focused primarily on landscape painting and spent time on Monehgan Island in Maine.  He had his first exhibition in New York in 1907.  During the next decade Kent would find success as an artist, author, book illustrator, and lecturer.  His simplified designs painted in a realistic style with decorative touches won him accolades, but Kent’s art took a downward turn when he became an outspoken supporter of communism.  He was the first American to exhibit in the former Soviet Union, won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967 and came under scrutiny by the Committee on un-American Activities. All this resulted in galleries and museums shunning his art and the U.S. government restricting his travel. In defiance, Kent gave most of his collection to the former Soviet Union in 1960.

Kent had a special affinity for winter scenes and often ventured far north on painting trips.  Winter Landscape probably shows a view along the coast of Maine near Monhegan Island.  Robert Henri’s influence appears in the broad, free brushwork and dramatic massing of shapes.  The earthy gray palette unifies the picture and powerfully conveys the depressed mood often associated with an overcast day in winter.  Infrared examination of the painting revealed that there were figures in the landscape which the artist painted out in the final version. 

Reference

David Traxel. An American Saga: The Life and Times of Rockwell Kent, New York: Harper & Row, 1980.  ISBN-13: 978-0060143725