Part 1 - Some Thoughts for February

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL

100 YEARS LATER

by Doug Capra © 2018-19

Part 1 -- Some Thoughts for February

ABOVE – Resurrection Bay taken on Feb. 9, 2018 from the Lost Lake Trail north of Seward. You can clearly see Caines Head, Fox Island, and Hive Island blending into Rugged Island. Photo by Jim Pfeiffenberger. BELOW -- The sun rises above the Resurrection Peninsula at 10:45 a.m. today, Tuesday, February 12, 2018. Capra photo.

When I started this project I knew I would be focusing on what I’ve called the “Not-So-Quiet” adventure, Kent’s fractured love life and personal demons -- the flip side of what he calls in the subtitle of Wilderness, the “Quiet Adventure.” I didn’t realize how much I would begin to reframe the entire story as I got deep into the letters.

In this entry I’d like to summarize some of my thoughts. I’m still trying to frame this narrative within the context of its many parts. The story is complex. Kent was a complicated man. Many elements make up the air we breathe within his story. And that’s another point – it’s not just “his” story. It’s also his wife, Kathleen’s story. Her voice has been pretty much marginalized in the popular narrative.

What I write below is as much for myself as it is for you, the reader. It’s my attempt at this point to sum up and condense my thoughts:

§  One must understand how important the seasonal departure and return of the sun is to those living here. This represents a fundamental element in Rockwell Kent’s Alaska venture. In late July when he and Rockie left New York -- and then through August and September while on Fox Island -- Kent experiences his drift into dusk. He notes this in his journal and letters, but the gradual descent to dimness has subtle effects on people. For Kent, it combined with many things: his depressed state over his affair; his realization that Kathleen is no longer the naïve young girl he had married; and his eventual epiphany regarding how he has caused her suffering over the years; the extremely slow mail; the north winds and seas preventing him from leaving the island; the Great War; the Influenza; and his neglect by the art world. If you compressed all this into one drawing, the space around it would be the daily flow into darkness.

§      I post the photos above to give readers an idea of what mid-February along the South Central Alaska coast can look like. We’re gaining 5 ½ minutes a day in light and it becomes obvious. In Wilderness on Feb. 7, 1919 Kent writes: “Yesterday, THE SUN!” On Feb. 14^th – “So warm to-day and yesterday! We live out-of-doors.” On Feb. 17^th, “I painted out-of-doors. It was summer-like and the sun shone through diamond-dripping trees.” On the 18^th Kent writes: “Such mild weather. With the fire nearly out it’s hot indoors to-night.” It still snows and rains, but in between it’s clear that winter’s back has been broken.

§  At this point Kent is extremely ambivalent about leaving Alaska. On the one hand he misses his wife and children. He’s lonely on the island and, frankly, he’s tired of its isolation. He still holds out for Kathleen to join him. His letters suggest he’s may be leaving Fox Island with plans to stay in Seward. If he can get Kathleen to change her mind, the town can be his base as they travel together as he paints more of Alaska during the summer. The arrival of the sun and light make a big difference. He’s emerged from Zarathustra dark cave into the brightness of an emerging Alaska spring and summer.

§  I look forward not backwards when I consider Kent on Fox Island. What led up to that period of his life? What was his state of mind at the time? He had no idea that his Alaska trip would work out and that he would finally gain recognition and financial success – and so quickly. He feels his early departure from Alaska represents a failure. He’s completed many pen and inks – probably because it was easier to work in black and white during the dark winter days. He has started but not finished numerous paintings. He completes them later in Vermont. He also thought his Newfoundland trip  represented one more failed venture. Kathleen sold almost everything they owned and joined him there with the children. Kent saw it as a long-term stay. On Fox Island Kent finally realizes how the many moves he has forced on Kathleen – especially the Newfoundland – have disheartened her.  Once on Newfoundland, he didn’t want to return to New York -- but if they had to leave he wanted to go to Europe.

§  Professionally and personally, Fox Island was a kind of Limbo for Kent. Perhaps it was a moratorium at mid-life. As in the past, he needed to get away from his complicated love life – but he soon discovered that he had packed it in his trunk. At least in New York he had been able to communicate adequately with Kathleen and Hildegarde. His isolation on Fox Island combined with the mail service made any kind of serious communication much more difficult. \

TO BE CONTINUED