Rockwell Kent Collection

• About the Collection

  The Rockwell Kent Collection at the Plattsburgh State Art Museum spans the artist’s career and interests, revealing the evolution of and interrelationship between ideas in many different media as well as the crossover from fine art into commercial design and publishing. Of unique note in the collection are preliminary drawings and sketches, commercial design processes, and advertising and publication illustrations.

  The holdings by Rockwell Kent at Plattsburgh State Art Museum include:

  • Paintings — over 50 paintings on canvas and additional paintings on board, paper, studies, underpaintings, and paintings reproduced in commercial work
  • Prints — the most comprehensive collection of prints by Rockwell Kent in a museum collection including a nearly complete survey of work as published in The Prints of Rockwell Kent: A Catalogue Raisonné by Dan Burne Jones
  • Printing plates — engravers plates for books and bookplates including a complete plate set for Kent’s autobiography “It’s Me O Lord”
  • Book art — drawings, studies, and prints from book illustrations both published and unpublished
  • Proof material — from book publications, advertisements, and other published material
  • Decorative arts — commercial design for posters, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry
  • Advertising — studies, paintings, and printed advertisements from the first half of the 20^th century
  • Photography — personal photographs and documentation of life at Asgaard Farm in the Adirondack region of New York as well as photographs documenting Kent’s extensive travel and community in locations such as Monhegan, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Chicago, Canada, Greenland, and Alaska
  • Archives — over 40 linear feet of personal and professional material from the Estate of Shirley Jonstone Gordon, Kent’s third wife
  • Kent manuscripts, imprints and other ephemera are housed in Special Collections in Feinberg Library. Access the Rockwell Kent Calendar of Imprints and Ephemera finding guide.
• Permissions & Reproduction Requests

  Reproduction permissions may be licensed for personal, scholarly or commercial purposes by the Plattsburgh State Art Museum. Certain works of art owned by the museum may be protected by a copyright not owned by Plattsburgh State Art Museum or subject to restrictions. Obtaining all other necessary permissions remains the requestor’s responsibility.
  
  The Plattsburgh State Art Museum owns copyright relating to the artwork, writing, and creative expressions of Rockwell Kent, unless otherwise designated, in accordance with the Last Will and Testament of Shirley Johnstone Gorton. Fees collected from the dispersal of rights and permissions is intended for the purpose of the preservation, enhancement, upkeep and maintenance of the Rockwell Kent Works of Art and Collections at the Plattsburgh State Art Museum, SUNY Plattsburgh, New York. As part of a state-funded public educational institution, the Plattsburgh State Art Museum does not offer discounted rates.
  
  For permission to reproduce an image for publication or merchandise, or to request image files, complete the Image and Licensing Request Application. All requests are reviewed on an individual basis and are subject to the fees below. Allow 3-5 weeks to guarantee approval and transfer of images. Please note that all approvals are final, to make a change to your request you must submit a new form subject to additional fees.

  • Image and Licensing Request Application
  • Schedule of Fees

About Rockwell Kent & Events

• About Rockwell Kent

  Rockwell Kent (1882–1971), an energetic and multi-talented artist, pursued many careers during his long and active life. Excelling in many interests, Kent was an architect, draftsman, carpenter, painter, illustrator, printmaker, commercial artist, designer, traveler/explorer, writer, lecturer, dairy farmer, and political activist.

  While studying architecture at Columbia University, Kent enrolled in William Merritt Chase’s summer school at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. He then redirected his career ambitions toward painting and continued to study with Chase in New York. Kent spent a summer working and living with Abbott H. Thayer in Dublin, New Hampshire, and attended the New York School of Art, where Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller were his teachers.

  Critically and financially, Kent was a successful artist. He was well known for his illustration work — particularly limited editions of the classic novels such as Moby Dick, bookplates commissioned by the publishing elite, and Christmas cards cherished by many. He was a prolific printmaker, and his prints and paintings were acquired by major museums and private collectors across the world.

  Following World War II, Kent’s social activism resulted in a loss of favor for public and commercial work due to the political stigma surrounding his outspoken beliefs. In addition, Kent’s adherence to figurative realism, a conservative artistic style at the time when modernism and abstraction defined the taste of art world elite, was out of fashion. After years of a declining reputation in the and unsuccessful attempts to find a home for the Kent Collection in the United States, Kent gave many of his paintings to the former Soviet Union, where his figurative style and populist subjects remained popular.

  An avid explorer, Kent was drawn to the remote land of the Arctic, and often stayed for extended periods of time to paint, write, and live amongst the local community. Between 1918 and 1935, he wrote and illustrated several popular books about his experiences in Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland. In the 1930s and 1940s, Kent made several national tours across the United States to lecture on his experience, speaking about his travels and of “art for the people.”

  In 1927 Kent purchased land in Au Sable Forks, New York, where he built a modest dairy farm named Asgaard Farm. This land, located in what is known as the Adirondack Park, was his primary home for the remainder of his life.

  Kent’s political activism was responsible for much of his undoing throughout his life. As a young man he met Rufus Weeks and joined the Socialist Party. Kent supported socialist causes and was an active member of organizations promoting world peace and harmonious relations with the Soviet Union, as well as civil rights, civil liberties, antifascism, and organized labor. Kent was frequently featured as a celebrity sponsor and speaker at fundraising events for these causes. In 1948, he ran unsuccessfully as the American Labor Party’s candidate for Congress. Kent’s unpopular political views eventually led to the dissolution of his dairy business, resulted in a summons to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and prompted the U.S. State Department to deny him a passport, an action that subsequently was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
  
  Kent wrote two autobiographies, This Is My Own (1940) and It’s Me, O Lord (1955). In 1969, he was the subject of an oral history interview conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.

  Rockwell Kent Timeline

• Past Events & Symposia

  The Rockwell Kent Mini Symposium 2023

  

  Creative Catalyst: Exploring Rockwell Kent’s Alaskan Adventure

  Thursday, April 6 & Friday, April 7

  Two days of engaging and invigorating activities in a celebration of inspiration and creativity. Discover the remarkable story of Rockwell Kent’s 1918 Alaskan adventure as you connect through art, storytelling, film screenings, and workshops — all while being inspired to pursue your true calling. Join us for this special occasion that honors the legacy of the Rockwell Kent Collection.

  additional details and schedule

  Meet the Presenters

  Claudia McGehee: “Wilderness: A Rockwell Kent's Alaska Inspired Picture Book Making Adventure”

  Doug Capra: “The Turbulent Genesis of Rockwell Kent’s Wilderness”