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Lot Essay
A beautiful recreation of the unique light and colors of the Alaskan landscape, Alaskan Inlet belongs to a series of paintings and drawings Rockwell Kent executed between 1918 and 1919. These works reverently celebrate the awesome power and untouched beauty of the Arctic. Also a printmaker, writer and illustrator, Kent’s body of work transports the viewer to the rugged wilderness the artist experienced on his explorations in remote destinations, from Alaska and Greenland to Tierra del Fuego.
From August 1918 to March 1919, Kent traveled to Alaska with his eldest son and settled in a cabin on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay. During this time, Kent drew, painted and meditated in the vast and pristine landscape. The present work likely depicts a view near Kent’s cabin on the West side of the island, looking North across a small inlet there.
Following his travels, in 1920 Kent published his journal, Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventures in Alaska, which recounted his day-to-day experience of his time on Fox Island. Within this, he wrote often of “our cove,” likely the subject of the present work. Kent’s entry from September 14, 1919 recalls the vista and how its appearance changed throughout the day; “At last the sun rose somewhere and tipped the peaks and the hanging glaciers, growing and growing till the shadows of other peaks were driven down into the sea and the many ranges stood full in the morning light. The twilight hours are so wonderfully long here as the sun creeps down the horizon. Just think! there’ll be months this winter when we’ll not see the sun from our cove—only see it touching the peaks above us or the distant mountains. It will be a strange life without the dear, warm sun!” (as quoted in Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventures in Alaska, New York, 1920, p. 154)
Glimmering with glowing bands of arctic light and color as the sun creeps across the landscape, Alaskan Inlet epitomizes Kent’s unique perspective on the unspoiled Alaskan terrain. Upon his return, Kent nostalgically recalled the landscape of his former Alaskan home, “I crave snow-topped mountains, dreary wastes and the cruel northern sea with its hard horizons at the edge of the world where infinite space begins. Here skies are clearer and deeper and, for the great wonders they reveal, a thousand times more eloquent of the eternal mystery than those of softer lands.” (as quoted in "Alaska Drawings," Arts and Decoration, June 1919, p. 71)
The present work has descended in the family of J.J. Ryan, one of Kent’s dedicated patrons and friends. Joseph J. Ryan (1913-1970), a grandson of Wall Street financier Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928), had a supremely adventurous spirit, with passions including aviation and alpine climbing. At his Oak Ridge estate in Virginia, which he also commissioned Kent to paint, Ryan amassed one of the most important private collections of the artist’s work, including Alaskan Inlet.
From August 1918 to March 1919, Kent traveled to Alaska with his eldest son and settled in a cabin on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay. During this time, Kent drew, painted and meditated in the vast and pristine landscape. The present work likely depicts a view near Kent’s cabin on the West side of the island, looking North across a small inlet there.
Following his travels, in 1920 Kent published his journal, Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventures in Alaska, which recounted his day-to-day experience of his time on Fox Island. Within this, he wrote often of “our cove,” likely the subject of the present work. Kent’s entry from September 14, 1919 recalls the vista and how its appearance changed throughout the day; “At last the sun rose somewhere and tipped the peaks and the hanging glaciers, growing and growing till the shadows of other peaks were driven down into the sea and the many ranges stood full in the morning light. The twilight hours are so wonderfully long here as the sun creeps down the horizon. Just think! there’ll be months this winter when we’ll not see the sun from our cove—only see it touching the peaks above us or the distant mountains. It will be a strange life without the dear, warm sun!” (as quoted in Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventures in Alaska, New York, 1920, p. 154)
Glimmering with glowing bands of arctic light and color as the sun creeps across the landscape, Alaskan Inlet epitomizes Kent’s unique perspective on the unspoiled Alaskan terrain. Upon his return, Kent nostalgically recalled the landscape of his former Alaskan home, “I crave snow-topped mountains, dreary wastes and the cruel northern sea with its hard horizons at the edge of the world where infinite space begins. Here skies are clearer and deeper and, for the great wonders they reveal, a thousand times more eloquent of the eternal mystery than those of softer lands.” (as quoted in "Alaska Drawings," Arts and Decoration, June 1919, p. 71)
The present work has descended in the family of J.J. Ryan, one of Kent’s dedicated patrons and friends. Joseph J. Ryan (1913-1970), a grandson of Wall Street financier Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928), had a supremely adventurous spirit, with passions including aviation and alpine climbing. At his Oak Ridge estate in Virginia, which he also commissioned Kent to paint, Ryan amassed one of the most important private collections of the artist’s work, including Alaskan Inlet.