Rockwell Kent (1882–1971): The Sculptor of Wilderness Rockwell Kent, an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, and adventurer, was born on June 21, 1882, in Tarrytown, New York. Of English descent, kent spent his early life in and around new york city, attending the horace mann school. He studied composition and design with arthur wesley dow at the art students league in 1900 and painting with william merritt chase from 1900 to 1902. Kent’s artistic vision was profoundly shaped by Transcendentalism—the philosophical movement championed by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Wal…