Rockwell Kent "Wilderness" Centennial Journal

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...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 December 15-20, 2018 Rockie on Fox Island, from Wilderness Sunday, December 15, 1918 Time passes by slowly as we head toward the darkest day of the year and the slow beginning of light gain. “This is another day that is hardly worth recording,” Kent writes, “one that would not be missed from a life.” As he writes this, perhaps he is reminded of what he wrote back in late August after he stood with Olson and Rockie at the end of the trail by the Fox Island lake: “These are the times in life --   when nothing happens – but in quietness the soul expands.” He’s experiencing real quietness, real isolation, real soul-searching. Today he dedicates his journal in Wilderness to his son. As we all know, children can both drive you crazy and keep you sane. In Kent’s case, having Rockie around invigorates him, energizes him, gives him inspiration and hope. ...