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Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was probably the most important American book illustrator of the 1920s and '30s. Today there is a revival of interest in his illustrations, and this volume brings together for the first time the best of his illustrations from 24 books, as well as magazine art, bookplates, and advertising material — examples in all.
Many of his most famous illustrations are included, with several selections each from Candide (1928), Moby Dick (1930), The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer (1930), Salamina (1935), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (1936), and Goethe's Faust (1941), among others. Illustrations for lesser-known works such as A Basket of Poses (1924), Venus and Adonis (1931), and To Thee, America! (1946) are also reproduced. The entire collection is dominated by Kent's highly individual style of formalized realism and by his well-known subject matter — heroic, or sensual, male and female figures and dramatic scenes of nature, usually in a far-off wilderness. Concentrating on the exceptional works of the '20s and '30s, the volume does include some early material from 1914 and 1915, and a selection of later work from the 1940s and from Rockwell Kent's Greenland Journal (1963).
Fridolf Johnson, for many years editor of The American Artist and a respected designer, has written a new introduction tracing Kent's development as an illustrator, captions for the illustrations, and an annotated bibliography of the works represented. The illustrations have been selected by Fridolf Johnson with the collaboration of John F. H. Gorton, Director, The Rockwell Kent Legacies.
