Those who have televisions might agree that last night's documentary on
Rockwell Kent was about as good as it gets.
Perhaps that's because there was so much photography to document each episode
of his life -- letting us see every life threatening expedition as well as
every girl friend (or -- at least some of them)
And because his bold style of painting translates so well to the small screen
-- providing a much better vision of his adventures than a photograph ever
could.
What a life ! What a painter ! (I became a fan a few years ago at a large
exhibition at the now defunct Terra Museum.)
And... I had no idea that Herman Melville was another blockhead who didn't
write for money ("Moby Dick" only sold a thousand copies in his lifetime)
Or... that Kent designed the logo for two fledging publishing houses: Viking
and Random House.
Or... that Kent was involved in a jury's decision to exclude DuChamp's
"Fountain" from an exhibition
But.. since I was a teen, I've always loved his stark illustrations for Moby
Dick -- each and every one of them -- and am quite sure that the images he
created were always on my mind, even while later reading editions that didn't
have them.
The documentary didn't touch on his dreadful life as a Communist and Bolshevik
sympathizer -- but it did make it clear that he liked to be ornery and get his
patriotic neighbors upset.
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Click to find the right international program for you.
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