The great humanist Rockwell Kent is represented well in the plates of this "lost Landscape" edition. The plates are great color, and the text fills you in on the complexity of his socialist political life. Kent is a superior mannerist as was his contemporary Grant Wood. It is heartening to see these works from the Soviet Union in such an inexpensive and reputable package. The book is true to the beauty and substance of this sometimes underappreciated legend! I was lucky enough to see some of the great Adirondack paintings at the Blue Mtn. museum last summer, which made me ravenous to get this book. I am thrilled! Buy it if you have an affinity for the works of Kent!

"Rockwell Kent's Forgotten Landscapes" presents 47 full-color, full-page paintings which he gave to Russia in 1960, and which have not been seen in the U.S. since. This treasure trove of his "forgotten" paintings was reproduced by Scott R. Ferris and Ellen Pearce in a 96-page coffee-table format.

By their direct simplicity, these paintings may startle viewers, especially those who revel in the nuances of paintings by impressionists, for Kent's pictures have sharp lines, bright colors, and deep shadows, and show the use of artistic license here and there. Edward Hopper's "houses" are done in a somewhat similar style. Kent's painting locales included the Adirondacks (his home), Greenland, Maine (Monhegan), Tierra del Fuego, Alaska and Ireland.

After studying the collection this reviewer emerged convinced that he has a better grasp of North Greenland, where the sun wheels around 360 degrees while hanging just above the horizon during summer months and casting a sort of perpetual evening light and long shadows. Kent's paintings often show no human or animal life, but there is enough inclusion of Indian activities as to cause cultural anthropologists to consider his paintings to be rare records of this primitive, by-gone lifestyle. Kent's portrait of Mount Assiniboine in the Canadian Rockies was so startling in color and composition as to make this reviewer actually gasp in wonder at its beauty.

In addition to the big color plates, the authors have included 36 smaller black & white pictures which amplify 15 pages of scholarly text by Ferris, in which he discusses the genealogies of selected pictures and their believed locations abroad. The text is backed by 95 footnotes, many of which are interesting in their own right.

Appendix I lists "variant titles to some of Kent's basic scenes." Appendix II organizes his "non-paintings" into engravings, lithographs, books and brochures, manuscripts and reproductions and portfolios -- all wonderful guides to other Kent works. Then there follow a Bibliography and Index.

Ellen Pearce's major contribution is a seven-page essay on the life and political entanglements of Rockwell Kent, which climaxed in his being summoned before Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Committee on Government Operations. Further, the State Department refused to renew his travel visa until the Supreme Court overturned its ruling. All this disheartened and embittered Kent and predisposed him to bequeath his "great collection" to the Russians, who had received an earlier show of his with warmth and enthusiasm.

For those who heretofore have known Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) only by his book and magazine illustrations, this is a grand introduction to his work in oils. One hopes another book someday will publish his collected works so that Americans can even better appreciate a great native-born but forgotten artist.

This comprehensive overview of the life of Rockwell Kent in the Adirondacks is part of a much needed revival on this incredible American Renaissance man.Some of the pastoral/mountain scenes are particularly well reproduced.Many of these works were gathered for this exhibit from individuals and some on loan from Russia. Kent's association with the soviets caused a virtual artistic rejection from his American art world.
The book is small,and unfortunately only in paperback, but the color is excellent. The documentation and historical data is accurate and engaging. This book is the first effort to group Kent's Adirondack paintings. The layout is lovely and the book has an intimate feel to it.The book also showcases some of his well known and not so well known illustrations.The book reminds us that Kent was also an adept typographer, as he was a consumate graphic artist.Some of his Adirondack inspired graphics reflect the "back to the land" sensibility he embodied. I also had the opportunity to hear Ms. Welsh( author, historian) in person at the Adirondack museum where many of the paintings have been for the last year(1999-2000). She is an astute scholar and admirable expert on Mr. Kent.Kent is sure to find a more secure place in art history, now that he has once again gained recognition for his energetic and artistic art spirit.Welcome back Rockwell, it's about time.

In the graceful Adirondack mountains, Rockwell Kent bought farmland, built a house and barn and set up his studio for painting. He named the place "Asgaard," Norse for "farm of the gods." Operating from this spot he painted exquisite landscapes of the region, many of which the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, NY, has compiled into an exhibit in keeping with its mandate "to preserve and interpret the cultural history of its region." Although it was designed to supplement the exhibit, this book stands strong and worthy in its own right. It contains an excellent, 19-page biography of Kent, probing his idealistic nature and strong political beliefs which time and again got him in trouble with (1) his dairy customers, who deserted him, (2) the federal government, which lifted his passport, and (3) Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who grilled him in public hearings. The biography of this very complex man is skillfully assembled by Caroline Welsh. Her co-author Scott Ferris writes a fascinating 23-page detailed essay on the spiritual Kent -- how his paintings reflect powerful social forces that drove him. Ferris discusses the allegorical nature of Kent's pictures, especially in relation to political events, including World War II and the dreadful cold war with Russia.

The book itself is beautiful: printed on heavy, coated stock, with clear pictures in color on virtually every page. Most are 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" in size, varnished to add extra sparkle for the reader. For those who wish to dig more deeply into the life of this remarkable man, Ferris provides a selected checklist of his Adironadack works with detailed notes on every entry including Adirondack paintings not in the museum exhibit). He also lists Kent's books, drawings and prints, and five pages of selected references for further reading. -- Allen Long, Arlington, VA.

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