The next exhibition in Bank of America’s Great Art Series, “Rockwell Kent: This is My Own,” will be on view at the New York State Museum November 22⁍ay 17 in the West Gallery.
The exhibition will feature works from the collection of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, the most complete and balanced collection of Kent’s work in the United States.
The collection was established by a gift and bequest from Kent’s wife, Sally Kent Gorton. This exhibition is curated by Cecilia M. Esposito, director of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum.
An artist who provided the illustrations for such classics as Moby Dick and the Canterbury Tales , Kent succeeded in multiple endeavors during his lifetime. He was a painter, muralist, illustrator, printmaker, book designer, graphic artist, architect, builder, writer and editor, lecturer, navigator, world traveler and political and social activist.
This exhibition offers a breadth of materials on display, including hundreds of items that chronicle Kent’s life and work, reflecting intensely personal experiences and a deep sense of moral and political principle.
On display will be paintings, drawings, prints, books, bookplates, photographs, dinnerware, advertising art and more. “Rockwell Kent,” a documentary produced by Frederick Lewis, and the book, Rockwell Kent: The Art of the Bookplate will be for sale in the Museum Shop.
Born in Tarrytown in 1882, Kent experienced a comfortable, upper middle-class lifestyle until the sudden death of his father in 1887. As a young boy he developed a resilience and strong work ethic that was evident in all of his future endeavors.
Kent achieved both critical and financial success as an artist during the 1920s and 1930s. He became well known for his book illustrations, bookplates and commercial work. Private collectors and major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acquired his paintings and prints.
Between 1918 and 1935, Kent traveled to remote parts of the world, often staying for long periods of time to learn about the people who lived there and to express and record his experiences through his paintings and books.
In 1915, during World War I, he was ordered to leave Newfoundland over fears that he was a German spy. While in Newfoundland he painted one of his major works, “House of Dread.” In Alaska, as in other countries he visited, Kent demonstrated his building skills, renovating an abandoned goat shed and turning it into a comfortable home.
From 1912 to 1968, Kent practiced the time-honored art of the bookplate, creating more than 185 custom-designed bookplates in response to mail orders that came his way, including one for Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. He also pursued wood engraving, a passion that rivaled his great love for painting.
Kent painted several major murals during the 1930s and 1940s. His designs for the 1939 Christmas Seals campaign were used on billboards, stamps and posters. During this time, Kent also produced political art, becoming very active in social and political issues as a member of the Socialist Party he had joined in 1908. In 1953, he was summoned to appear before a subcommittee, chaired by US Senator Joseph McCarthy, to answer questions about his membership in the Communist Party.
From 1957 to 1960, three major exhibitions of Kent’s work were held in the Soviet Union, and in 1960 he gave the country 80 canvases and 800 drawings and prints. He traveled to Moscow in 1957 to accept the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples.
The museum is in the Cultural Education Center at the south end of the Empire State Plaza. For information, www.nysm.nysed.gov or 518-474-5877.
