FOX ISLAND CHRISTMAS 1918 - 2018
FOX ISLAND CHRISTMAS CENTENNIAL 1918 – 2018 by Doug Capra © 2018 "Gutip Sernigiliget Kaladlit." (God Bless the Greenlanders), 1932. Watercolor over traces of graphite. Preface When he first published the story of his 1918-1919 Alaska experience with his young son, American artist Rockwell Kent called it a “Quiet Adventure.” That was half the truth. He focused on the wilderness with its fierce awe, inspiration, and healing qualities. “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity,” Henry Thoreau had written in Walden , and Kent strove for that ideal. He needed solitude and time to produce his art. But beneath the surface there was his “Not-So-Quiet” adventure. He felt unappreciated in the art world and longed for fame and success. Never in his life had he been so isolated as he was on Fox Island during winter of 1918-1919. He contemplated suicide. Due to his affairs, Kent’s marriage had been in trouble for years. On Fox Island the relationship deteriorat