Rockwell Kent 1882-1971

Richard V. West writes: "In 1958, Kent and his wife Sally traveled to Zermatt, Switzerland where they met with Kent's steadfast patron and supporter, J.J. Ryan.  Ryan had formed a large collection of Kent paintings at his home in Oak Ridge, Virginia, and continued to purchase works even after Kent's political positions became unpopular with a number of his other patrons and admirers.  The Kents took the funicular daily from Zermatt up to sites in the mountains from which the artist could paint the Matterhorn.  This painting is one of a group of paintings of the Matterhorn, in both horizontal and vertical formats, begun during these trips, although they were probably completed shortly after the Kents' return to the United States...

"The painting reflects Kent's response to the clear Alpine settling of the mountain.  The crystalline profile of the Matterhorn, painted in thin, flat, planes, is sharply contrasted against the sky and towers over the sheds and rocks in the foreground, which are handled with a richly loaded brush, emphasizing the tones of earth and grass...

"Abraham Colish (1882-1963) established the A. Colish Press, which became renowned in the 1930s and 1940s for its fine typography and printing of limited editions for major book clubs and presses.  Kent was a great admirer and friend of Colish, even designing the logo for the Press.  Kent had several of his later books printed by the Press, including Of Men and Mountains (1959) and After Long Years (1964).  Appropriately, the Press also published the 1971 folio commemorating the Kent memorial celebration held at Town Hall, New York."