Lot Essay
RELATED LITERATURE:
L. Hyman, American Modernist Landscapes: The Spirit of Cezanne, New York, 1989, pp. 3-7
Road from the Cove epitomizes Kroll's philosophy of nature as well as his superb mastery of figurative painting. The scene depicted here is a composite of five or six sites in and around Cape Ann where the artist and his family sometimes summered. The landscape was derived from plein-air drawings, the most interesting elements of which were incorporated into this composition. For example, fascinated by a group of willow trees he happened upon, Kroll used the willows as a motif in a series of paintings of the 1930s, most notably both this example and one in the Whitney Museum of American Art. Here, the willows are used as a dramatic background for the mysterious encounter of the three figures. Kroll stated his thoughts on nature thusly: "I always use nature as a land of abstract encyclopedia of fact. I use parts and compose a picture. And even while I'm creating the space, I never copy nature. As a matter of fact, you can't copy nature. It's ridiculous. You just make choices out of nature..." (Kroll, A Spoken Memoir, p. 106)
Like many other early 20th-Century artists such as Weber, Maurer, Hartly, Demuth and Carles, Kroll was greatly influenced by the work of Cézanne, particularly in his landscapes as in The Road from the Cove. Kroll studied at the Academie Julien and was exposed to Cézanne through Leo Stein whose collection of the French artist was superb. Kroll embraced Cézanne's communion with nature and his innovation of using color patches to define form and juxtaposition of broader areas of color to indicate space. However, Kroll as well as other American Modernists, clearly produced their own statements, which echo Matisse's sentiment in 1936, the year of this work: "Cézanne has sustained me spiritually in the critical moments of my career as an artist. I have drawn from him my faith and perseverance." (Matisse in Hyman, p. 6) Kroll put it more simply: "Even when I was influenced by Cézanne, it (Kroll's painting) wasn't the same sort of thing at all." (Kroll, A Spoken Memoir, p. 110)
Kroll's statuesque figures derive from the artist's interest in Classicism which developed while he was a student at the National Academy of Design Art School. At that time, in addition to his art classes, he read Sophocles, Euripides and all the great classicists. This influence became obvious in his work, for George Bellows once commented on a Kroll figure by saying, "That's as good as Greek sculpture, that figure." (Bellows in Kroll, p. 110) Winslow Homer, early on in Kroll's career, also regarded the artist as a competent figure painter. In 1907, Homer criticized one of Kroll's paintings--"That's good. In fact, that's very good. Do figures, my boy. Leave rocks to your old age. They're easy." (Homer in Kroll, p. 13)
In this picture, as was his practice, Kroll painted the figures once the background was completed. The boldly colored and broadly brushed landscape is the backdrop for the artist's focal points, the three mysterious figures who represent Kroll's individual style of Modernism. A signature piece of the 1930s, The Road from the Cove won First Prize at the 1936 Carnegie International Exhibition.
L. Hyman, American Modernist Landscapes: The Spirit of Cezanne, New York, 1989, pp. 3-7
Road from the Cove epitomizes Kroll's philosophy of nature as well as his superb mastery of figurative painting. The scene depicted here is a composite of five or six sites in and around Cape Ann where the artist and his family sometimes summered. The landscape was derived from plein-air drawings, the most interesting elements of which were incorporated into this composition. For example, fascinated by a group of willow trees he happened upon, Kroll used the willows as a motif in a series of paintings of the 1930s, most notably both this example and one in the Whitney Museum of American Art. Here, the willows are used as a dramatic background for the mysterious encounter of the three figures. Kroll stated his thoughts on nature thusly: "I always use nature as a land of abstract encyclopedia of fact. I use parts and compose a picture. And even while I'm creating the space, I never copy nature. As a matter of fact, you can't copy nature. It's ridiculous. You just make choices out of nature..." (Kroll, A Spoken Memoir, p. 106)
Like many other early 20th-Century artists such as Weber, Maurer, Hartly, Demuth and Carles, Kroll was greatly influenced by the work of Cézanne, particularly in his landscapes as in The Road from the Cove. Kroll studied at the Academie Julien and was exposed to Cézanne through Leo Stein whose collection of the French artist was superb. Kroll embraced Cézanne's communion with nature and his innovation of using color patches to define form and juxtaposition of broader areas of color to indicate space. However, Kroll as well as other American Modernists, clearly produced their own statements, which echo Matisse's sentiment in 1936, the year of this work: "Cézanne has sustained me spiritually in the critical moments of my career as an artist. I have drawn from him my faith and perseverance." (Matisse in Hyman, p. 6) Kroll put it more simply: "Even when I was influenced by Cézanne, it (Kroll's painting) wasn't the same sort of thing at all." (Kroll, A Spoken Memoir, p. 110)
Kroll's statuesque figures derive from the artist's interest in Classicism which developed while he was a student at the National Academy of Design Art School. At that time, in addition to his art classes, he read Sophocles, Euripides and all the great classicists. This influence became obvious in his work, for George Bellows once commented on a Kroll figure by saying, "That's as good as Greek sculpture, that figure." (Bellows in Kroll, p. 110) Winslow Homer, early on in Kroll's career, also regarded the artist as a competent figure painter. In 1907, Homer criticized one of Kroll's paintings--"That's good. In fact, that's very good. Do figures, my boy. Leave rocks to your old age. They're easy." (Homer in Kroll, p. 13)
In this picture, as was his practice, Kroll painted the figures once the background was completed. The boldly colored and broadly brushed landscape is the backdrop for the artist's focal points, the three mysterious figures who represent Kroll's individual style of Modernism. A signature piece of the 1930s, The Road from the Cove won First Prize at the 1936 Carnegie International Exhibition.