Kent’s “House of Dread,” Brigus, Newfoundland, 1914–15 |
By 1912, Kent was living in
Greenwich Village, which was emerging as a bohemian haven. Now the
father of three children, he was doing architectural rendering for the
firm of Ewing & Chappell. Miserable, he leaped at the opportunity to
serve as superintendent on a construction site in Winona, Minnesota,
an affluent mill town on the Mississippi.
After what Kent called his “full-packed Minnesota year,” he returned to
New York City.
Increasingly, Kent’s thoughts returned to the bleak, barren coast of
Newfoundland, which he had first visited in 1910. After securing financial
support, primarily from his mother who had inherited wealth from
her Aunt Josie, Kent boarded a steamer for St. John’s.
His search for solitude brought him to the village of Brigus,
on Conception Bay. Kent found a dilapidated house on
a narrow ledge of land far from town. He renovated this
curious cottage, adding a bedroom and a small studio. His
family joined him, and at first, all was idyllic.
But, soon, there were whispers about the sometimes arrogant
American who lived in the strange little cottage on
the cliffs. Rumors flew that Kent was a German spy sent to
make maps and charts of the Newfoundland coast.
Kent did nothing to dispel the gossip. In fact, he actively
encouraged it. This response backfired and he was ordered
to leave the country. The Kents left Newfoundland after a
mere sixteen months.
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Kent posing as German spy, Newfoundland, 1915
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Kent’s despair permeates his oil painting, “House of Dread”:
| “Upon a bleak and lofty cliff’s edge, land’s end, stands a house. Against
its corner, and facing seaward leans a man, naked. His head is bowed
as though in utter dejection. And from an upper window leans a
weeping woman. It is our cliff, our sea, our house, stripped bare
and stark, its loneliness intensified.” |
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 | House Of Dread, Newfoundland, 1915
oil on canvas
Gift of Sally Kent Gorton
[X1978.1.8] |
 | Self Portrait I, 1915
oil on board
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.172.1] |
 | Self Portrait II, 1915
oil on board
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.172.2] |
 | Self Portrait III, 1915
oil on board
Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton
[P52000.172.3] |
|
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