Rockwell Kent

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(b Tarrytown, NY, 21 June 1882; d Au Sable Forks, NY, 13 March 1971).

American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer and sailor. He first studied architecture but turned to painting, studying in New York at the schools of William Merritt Chase and of Robert Henri. In his realistic landscapes, the most famous of which related to his long sojourns in such remote and rugged places as Alaska, Tierra del Fuego and Greenland (e.g. Eskimo in a Kayak, 1933; Moscow, Pushkin Mus. F.A.), he favoured a precise rendering of forms with strong contrasts of light and dark. He was also renowned for the many books that he illustrated and wrote about his adventures. His considerable reputation as an illustrator was based on his striking drawings for such classics as Voltaire's Candide (New York, 1928) and Herman Melville's Moby Dick (Chicago, 1930). His simple but distinctive graphic designs, such as God Speed (wood engraving, 1931; see Kent, 1933, p. 87), were widely imitated. (Source: FRIDOLF JOHNSON, "Rockwell Kent," The Grove Dictionary of Art Online (Oxford University Press) Accessed February 10, 2004) http://www.groveart.com