Kent, Rockwell

Kent, Rockwell (b Tarrytown, NY, 21 June 1882; d Ausable Forks, NY, 13 Mar. 1971).
American painter, graphic artist, and writer. His preference was for scenes of the great outdoors, painted in a vivid, dramatic style with strong contrasts of light and shade. They reflected his own lifestyle, for he loved exploring remote areas (including Alaska, Greenland, and Tierra del Fuego) and early in his career he supported himself by working at such jobs as lobsterman and ship's carpenter. His pictures appealed to the American pioneer spirit and by the 1920s he was one of the country's most popular artists. However, he had outspoken left-wing political sympathies and at the time of the anti-Communist witch hunts in the 1940s and 1950s he was dogged by various investigating committees. He was chairman of the National Council for American-Soviet Friendship and in 1967 was awarded the International Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet government; he gave the money part of the award to the people of North Vietnam. Kent illustrated numerous books, including his own accounts of his travels, such as Wilderness (1920). His other writings include an autobiography, It's Me, O Lord (1955).