**early life and education**
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.
**artistic career and inspiration**
kent's early paintings of
mount monadnock and new hampshire, first shown at the society of american artists in new york in 1904, marked the beginning of his reputation as an early american modernist. his series of monhegan island paintings (1905-1910), exhibited at clausen galleries in new york in 1907, can be seen in museums across the country, including the
metropolitan museum of art,
seattle art museum, and
new britain museum of american art.
- key exhibitions:
- exhibition of independent artists (1910)
- an independent exhibition of the paintings and drawings of twelve men (1911), also known as "the twelve" or "kent's tent"
- influences:**
- transcendentalism, inspired by the works of thoreau and emerson
- the austerity and stark beauty of wilderness
- notable works:**
- wilderness (1920), an adventure memoir and compilation of letters
- series of land and seascapes from forbidding locales, conveying the symbolist spirit
**later life and legacy**
kent's later life was marked by his incorporation as "rockwell kent, inc." in 1919, supporting his new vermont homestead. he continued to paint until his death on march 13, 1971. **references:** wikipedia, TopImpressionists.com
