Rockwell Kent & Jamie Wyeth: Their Journeys And Their Connections

Artist, printmaker, writer, explorer and political/social activist Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) could do it all—and did — in the course of a long and adventurous life. Two exhibitions this summer reflect the continuing interest in Kent’s oeuvre, offering an opportunity to gauge both his legacy as a printmaker and book illustrator, and as painter of the rugged beauty of Maine. “Rockwell Kent—Voyager: An Artist’s Journey in Prints, Drawings, and Illustrated Books,” is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Penn., through July 29. More than 100 watercolors, lithographs and pen-and-ink drawings survey Kent’s achievements, 1907-1950s, in travel narratives, book illustrations and advertising images. “Jamie Wyeth, Rockwell Kent and Monhegan” at the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, through December 20 traces connections between Kent and the youngest of the Wyeth clan of artists, both of whom painted extensively on the picturesque midcoast Maine island. Around ten paintings by each artist underscore their differing responses to Monhegan’s special sights.