Born in 1882, Rockwell Kent was raised in Tarrytown, New York. Through his aunt, Kent was exposed to a variety of European art and architecture when he accompanied her on a trip to Europe. Returning to his schooling in America, Kent attended art classes with William Merritt Chase at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island. Kent took a scholarship he had been awarded by Chase to the New York School of Art where he studied under Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller.

Inspired by Henri, Kent ventured to Monhegan Island in Maine where he painted some of his greatest works in addition to working as a lobsterman and driller. His earlier works show much of the bold Ashcan style brushwork of Bellows and Henri. Later he would develop a cleaner more streamlined style. Throughout his lifetime, Kent continued his voyages and traveled to Greenland, Denmark and Chile. He returned to New York to promote his advancing career and to save money to support his family while he traveled.

Apart from his colorful paintings of exotic locations Kent achieved great fame and acclaim for his work as a printmaker and illustrator. Kent made his first print, Blue Bird, at the suggestion of Carl Zigrosser. At this point, Kent had developed a great following in New York and was admired for his Alaska Journal including sixty-four drawings and decorative maps. A year later, Kent moved to Vermont where he published his first book, Wilderness. He would also produce celebrated illustrations for Melville’s Moby Dick and Boccacio’s Decameron.

Kent was also an ambitious if somewhat radical writer and published a magazine called Rockwellkentiana with Zigrosser in 1933. He was denounced as a communist at the hearing of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and donated several works to the Soviet Union upon their rejection by an American museum. In 1967 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize of the USSR. In his lifetime, Kent received celebrity recognition for his accomplishments both as an artist and writer.