Hail and Farewell
Hail and Farewell
Rockwell Kent
1882-1971
1930
Woodblock
8 3/4 x 6 in. (22.2 x 15.2 cm)
Edition of 120
A lone figure climbs a rope ladder against a driving rain, arms outstretched, the ship's rigging cutting sharp diagonal lines across the composition. Kent drew on his own experience sailing to Greenland the year before, and the print's stark contrasts and heroic, simplified figure are hallmarks of his mature style. "Hail and Farewell" was originally commissioned as part of a set for an advertising campaign, and Kent later used the same image as an illustration in his travel memoir, N by E, published the same year. Impressions are held in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, among others.
Artist bio
Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was one of the leading American artists of the early twentieth century, known equally as a painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer. Trained under William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, Kent developed a style built on bold contrasts, simplified forms, and a fascination with wild, remote places, Newfoundland, Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland among them. His time at sea and in the far north became the defining subject of his work, expressed through stark black and white wood engravings as well as paintings. Kent was also a prolific author and book illustrator, and his prints from this period remain widely held in major American museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
One correction to flag: your record lists the medium as "Woodblock," but museum records (Smithsonian, Whitney, Cleveland) and market listings consistently call this a wood engraving. Worth fixing in the database if you want the website description to match.
A lone figure climbs a rope ladder against a driving rain, arms outstretched, the ship's rigging cutting sharp diagonal lines across the composition. Kent drew on his own experience sailing to Greenland the year before, and the print's stark contrasts and heroic, simplified figure are hallmarks of his mature style. "Hail and Farewell" was originally commissioned as part of a set for an advertising campaign, and Kent later used the same image as an illustration in his travel memoir, N by E, published the same year. Impressions are held in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, among others.
Artist bio
Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was one of the leading American artists of the early twentieth century, known equally as a painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer. Trained under William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, Kent developed a style built on bold contrasts, simplified forms, and a fascination with wild, remote places, Newfoundland, Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland among them. His time at sea and in the far north became the defining subject of his work, expressed through stark black and white wood engravings as well as paintings. Kent was also a prolific author and book illustrator, and his prints from this period remain widely held in major American museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
One correction to flag: your record lists the medium as "Woodblock," but museum records (Smithsonian, Whitney, Cleveland) and market listings consistently call this a wood engraving. Worth fixing in the database if you want the website description to match.
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