Sydney Macek

Kim Kozak

Art 1: Pink Section

11 January 2019

Art Criticism Worksheet

Title of Artwork: Artist in Greenland // Artist: Rockwell Kent (1935-1960)

1. Description

a. Describe everything you see in the work, fully!

In the painting Artist in Greenland the composition is split between the ground

and the horizon with boulders and icebergs jutting out from the ground. The

foreground is a cool pastel blue/white sheet of ice and snow with tones of light

grey/blue and vanilla added to the left side of the composition to create the

appearance of snow drifts. Two small snow-covered ice chunks sit on the larger

expanse of snow in the foreground and one sits in the middle ground. Based on

the positioning of the light and shadows in the painting I would say that the sun

(the light source) is positioned probably mid-level in the sky out of frame on the

right-hand side of the painting. In the center of the foreground are eight sledding

dogs and a man standing with his back facing the painter’s perspective. The man

is wearing black snow gear and is holding something in each hand (perhaps a

paintbrush) he is using his sledge as an easel and you can see the little painting

he’s working on which is of the icebergs in front of him. In the middle ground
 there is one large iceberg which culminates at two large peaks. The iceberg drops

off sharply on the right side but slopes down into smaller ice “hills” on the left.

Again, Kent uses a cool palette of blue, stark white, and pale yellow. Stark white

in the areas with direct exposure to the sun, a light to mid-tone grey/blue for the

face of the iceberg directly in front of the painter’s view, pale yellow/vanilla to

accentuate areas the light might bounce off of, and turquoise to medium blue at

the bottom of the iceberg to accentuate the shadow it casts. In the background,

there are two rounded bare rock boulders with no snow on them and even further

in the background on the left side of the composition is another iceberg in the

distance. The main iceberg in the middle ground is also accentuated by the sky in

the background which has a lemon-yellow glow over the horizon line and fades

into a light to dark blue.

b. Think about: How much does this work imitate real life – is it realistic? Is the

artist trying to be realistic?

I think that this work imitates real life because the artist painted a landscape

proportionately to what was in front of him (it wasn’t a scene he made up in his

mind). I think Kent utilizes clean lines more than would actually be in the natural

scene and he doesn’t focus on conveying all the details of the ice/rock/snow’s

texture but rather on accurately portraying the color palette and dreaminess of the

scene.
 Analysis/Design – How well the work is organized. Which Elements and

Principles are used together This is called Formalism. SELECT 3 DESIGN

RELATIONSHIPS AND FULLY EXPLAIN THEM.

1. Line is used to create movement: In Artist in Greenland the tops of the icebergs

which make up the horizon line create a sharp distinction between two pieces of

the composition. This flowing line moves the viewers eye across the painting and

the horizon: allowing them to take in other aspects of the painting along the way.

2. Space is used to create proportion: The illusion of height, width, and depth of

the objects in the landscape create a realistic and natural proportion in the

composition. The dimension is shown through the use of light and shadow which

Kent accentuates through the hue and value of the paint used.

3. Value is used to create gradation: Value which is the gradual change between

light and darkness is used to create gradation in the sky in the painting’s

background. The hue shifts from lemon to pale yellow and into light blue where

the value of the color changes from a tint blue to a pure blue to a shade blue. This

gradation acts as a halo for the horizon highlighting and accentuating the horizon

line.

2. Interpretation/ Expression –

a. What is the mood or idea communicated to you?

The mood communicated to be is one of peace, calmness, and tranquility but also

of wonder and amazement at the earth’s landscapes and the great expanses of

beauty that are found in even the most formidable places.

 b. What mood or idea do you think the artist was trying to express?

I think that the mood that Kent was trying to express is what was communicated

to me. As an explorer, Kent had a passion for earth’s most amazing landscapes

and I think that is what he wanted to share with his audience.

3. Judgment - determining the success of an artwork based on 3 major aesthetic theories.

CHOOSE 2 AND FULLY EXPLAIN WHY YOU CHOSE THEM, SUPPORT

YOUR REASONING

Artist in Greenland by Rockwell Kent is successful according the aesthetic

theories of imitationalism and formalism. In terms of its success regarding

imitationalism, its use of color hue and value to realistically portray the

dimensional values of shadow and highlight create realistic proportion and texture

in the composition while maintaining a certain amount of abstractness. In regards

to formalism, the composition features several advanced design qualities and as

listed earlier under the “Analysis and Design” portion of the worksheet also

effectively implements different elements of art which each highlight a different

principle of design.

Art History Worksheet

DETAILS/DESCRIPTION –

Artist in Greenland (1935-1960) was painted with oil on canvas by Rockwell Kent. The

dimensions of the painting are 35 1/8 x 44 3/8 in. (90.2 x 112.8 cm.) and it is currently on

exhibit in the American Wing of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

1. ARTIST’S STYLE/ ANALYSIS – the unique features of an artwork that determine an

artist’s style. STATE 3 UNIQUE FEATURES OF THIS ARTIST’S STYLE AND HOW

THEY RELATE TO YOUR ASSIGNED ARTWORK. Should be at least 2 -3 sentences

for each characteristic.

1. Kent is known for his signature, smooth style of landscape painting. His

paintings are heavily stylized, with organic forms taking on geometric qualities

that functioned to divide his compositions into individual elements. This can be

seen in the clean flowing lines of the iceberg and boulders in Artist in Greenland

which make up the composition’s horizon line.

2. Another stylistic choice common in Rockwell Kent’s paintings is the cool color

palette. Most of his famous landscapes were done of Greenland, Alaska, and

Tierra Del Fuego and were fairly constant in their color palette of pale blues,

greens, stark whites, stormy greys, and yellows. During his travels to these arctic

and Antarctic regions Kent attuned his palette to the muted, icy scenes and

inhospitable climate, as can be seen in Artist in Greenland.

3. In addition to the similarity in color palettes used to paint scenes in Alaska,

Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland there is also a continuation of common scenes.

His compositions eschewed the human figure; instead, glaciers, mountains,

mountain lakes, and rough waters became the central focus of his compositions.

While Artist in Greenland features the Artist’s figure he is relatively small and

undetailed in comparison to the rest of the scene. He, like Kent is merely a

bystander to the grand landscapes of nature.

2. INFLUENCES – how the world and circumstances influenced the artist. STATE

2 INFLUENCES ON YOUR ARTIST AND HOW THEY RELATE TO YOUR

ASSIGNED PAINTING. Should be at least 2 – 3 sentences for each influence.

1. Kent found the beauty of the earth in Greenland which as a lifelong socialist he

regarded as a sort of economic, social, and political utopia. During a visit to

Greenland, he built himself a hut in a village north of the Arctic Circle and asked

an Eskimo friend to teach him how to drive a dog sled over treacherous ice fields.

Soon after, he bought his own dog team and sledge so that he could camp out in

some of the starkly beautiful places far from the village. He found himself greatly

influenced by these native Greenlanders, which although he didn’t share a

language with, he got to know extensively through his time there. At one point

even living with a Native Greenlander, named Salamina (his housekeeper and

mistress), and her daughter.

2. Often cited as an early American Modernist, Kent's work focuses on the

otherworldly beauty of nature, influenced by Transcendentalism and the

mysticism of writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson,

whose works he read early in his career. Kent found inspiration in the austerity

and stark beauty of wilderness. His series of land and seascapes from these often-

forbidding locales convey the Symbolist spirit evoking the mysteries and cosmic

wonders of the natural world. "I don't want petty self-expression", Kent wrote, "I

want the elemental, infinite thing; I want to paint the rhythm of eternity."
3. JUDGMENT – making a decision about the artworks importance in the history of

art. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? WHY IS IT FAMOUS? Did this artist or artwork

influence other artists. At least 3 sentences.

1. Although his life was marked with political controversy – exacerbated by his

1960 gift of several hundred of his paintings, drawings, and prints to the Soviet

Union – which diminished his reputation, with time he has been recognized as an

important artist on the frontier of American imagination. His paintings from

Greenland in particular represent the culmination of his thirty-year-long

engagement with modernism and his contribution to modern American art.

2. Kent's adventurous spirit has also served to inspire stirred countless other artists

and authors. Many fellow artists have credited Kent’s illustrations and paintings

including: George Bellows, Fairfield Porter, Harry Cimino, and Edward Shenton.

While authors including Author Gretel Ehrlich and Barry Lopez have also quoted

from him in their own arctic adventure novels and have credited him for his

influence.

Proof of Attendance: This picture was taken at my visit to the BMA and as provided by google photos
includes the date and time taken, location, as well as the device it was taken on. A museum map can
also be provided if necessary.
 Works Cited

Frederick Lewis. “The Stormy Petrel of American Art.” The Scandinavian Review, The

Scandinavian Review, Summer 2012, http://www.amscan.org/app/uploads/2015/10/SR.

Summer12_RockwellKent.pdf.

Rockwell Kent. Detail, Artist in Greenland. 1935/60. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchase

with ex- change funds from the Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection, BMA

1991.10. Courtesy of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Rockwell Kent Collection.

Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton.

Scott F. Ferris. In the Presence of Light. Foreword to the reprint of Rockwell Kent's 1935

autobiographical tome, Salamina. http://www.scottrferris.com/Essays/salamina.html.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Rockwell Kent”. Encyclopedia Britannica,

Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., June 17, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography

/Rockwell-Kent.

Zoë Samels. “Rockwell Kent”, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/constituent

/4494.