%C2%A9 Plattsburgh State Art Museum%2C Rockwell Kent Gallery and Collection
Harvester, 1921
Rockwell Kentexpand_more
Pen and black ink on paperexpand_more
Anonymous giftexpand_more 2018.96.28
Not on Viewexpand_more
Rockwell Kent was an unusual combination of Transcendentalist, Symbolist, Modernist, and Socialist. This drawing made while he lived in Vermont depicts a laborer harvesting wheat. The abundance of nature and simplicity of life speaks to his roots in the mystical writings of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The anonymous, androgynous figure illuminated in a night landscape evokes his Symbolist bent. The simplified rhythmical lines are harbingers of Art Deco, and the theme of labor coupled with the gleaming sickle would be comfortable on a Soviet monument.
When Kent made this drawing, he was just gearing up his career as a printmaker. Indeed, the drawing is mounted on a card inscribed in pencil: Notice to engraver / Valuable drawing / Do not mark or soil. We know of no print derived from the drawing, but it did come into the possession of Mrs. Albert Sterner, whose husband, an artist, was among those encouraging Kent to engage with printmaking the early 1920s.
Details
- Title
- Harvester
- Artist Life
- 1882 - 1971
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2018.96.28
- Provenance
- Mrs. Albert Sterner (New York) [probably Marie, the wife of Albert Edward Sterner (1863-1946), a painter and illustrator). John E. Andrus III, Wayzata, Minn.; Julie Andrus, Minneapolis; given to MIA, 2018.
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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© Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Rockwell Kent Gallery and Collection