Rockwell Kent, 1896 |
Rockwell Kent
was born
into a comfortable, upper-middle-class family in Tarrytown, New York,
in 1882. His father, Rockwell Kent Sr., was a lawyer who sought prosperity
through foreign mining ventures. When the elder Kent died suddenly
of typhoid fever following a trip to Honduras, Kent’s mother, Sara, pregnant
with her third child, was left in genteel poverty, often dependent
upon the conditional kindness of her tight-fisted aunt, Josie Banker.
Sara’s sister, Josephine (Holgate), named after the miserly Aunt Josie,
came to live with the family and served as the household’s disciplinarian.
A talented artist herself, Josephine (Aunt Jo) decided to resume her art
studies in Europe and took 13-year-old Rockwell with her to England,
Holland, and Germany. Jo expressed enthusiasm for Kent’s early artistic
efforts, despite her own assertion that, “You’ll never be able to support
yourself as an artist; nobody can.”
Rockwell always attended private schools, including the Episcopal Academy
in Cheshire, Connecticut, where he refused to learn Latin, outlasting
his teacher in a lengthy standoff. He graduated from the Horace Mann
School in New York City in 1900 and began the study of architecture at
Columbia that fall.
During the summer before he started at Columbia, Kent’s family vacationed
at Shinnecock, on Long Island, where he attended the summer
art program of painter William Merritt Chase. Kent spent three summers
studying at Shinnecock with Chase, who immediately recognized
Kent’s talent and eventually offered him a scholarship to the New York
School of Art, then also known as the Chase School. Trying to honor his
family’s wishes, Kent declined the offer. He continued at Columbia, but
cut back on his architectural studies to attend evening art classes.
|
Rockwell Kent, Monhegan, 1905 |
|
|
 | Columbia Train, c.1902
ink on paperboard
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.191] |
 | Boy with Kite, Rockwell Kent age 1, n.d.
oil on wood
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.132.1] |
 | Boy with Bird, Rockwell Kent age 3, n.d.
oil on wood
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.132.2] |
 | William Merritt Chase
Portrait of Rockwell Kent, 1903
oil on canvas
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.173] |
 | Self Portrait, 1905
oil on canvas
Gift of Sally Kent Gorton
[X1978.1.9] |
|
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