An archive of correspondence - photo 1
An archive of correspondence - photo 2

An archive of correspondence

Lot 283
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 2 016
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1032941
Lot 283 | An archive of correspondence
Estimate value
$ 2 000 – 3 000
Rockwell KENT (1882-1971). Archive of 17 typed letters signed (13 signed "Rockwell", one signed in type, and 3 signed on his behalf by his wife Sally KENT) to Georgia and Charles Wayland Lightbody, Ausuble Forks, 3 March 1943 to 27 January 1949.

23 pages, 280 x 215mm, mostly on his personal letterhead (occasional partial fold separations and a few spots of soiling on versos). [With:] KENT, Kathleen. 3 Typed letters signed ("Lee Hays" and "Lee") to Georgia and Charles Wayland Lightbody, Philadelphia, n.d. 6 pages, 280 x 125mm. * KENT, Sally. 6 Autograph letters signed and typed letter signed ("Sally") to Charles Wayland Lightbody, Ausable Forks, 14 December 1944. 27 pages, most 210 x 137mm.

A wide-ranging correspondence with a history professor, revealing Kent's outspoken political views with topics ranging from the planned St. Lawrence Seaway and the economic impact it would have on the upper Midwest (19 December 1944); a lengthy discussion of the refugee problem in Palestine and parallels to the biblical conquest of Canaan (12 June 1946, continued on 4 August 1946); the term Marxism: "Maybe because I accept Marx - and Lenin and subsequent thinkers - as true apostles of the truth I am somewhat out of patience with the thought that proclaims itself as 'Marxist.' We don't talk of 'Darwinism' today. We talk of evolution." advocating for Henry Wallace who "offers us the great release of our pent up exasperations. I feel that Wallace may be accepted by millions as the symbol and the expression of the revolt that has been germination in every breast." (13 January 1948); political complacency in the U.S. (27 January 1949). The letters from Kent's wife Sally and his daughter Kathleen are also illuminating in their content. In an undated letter from Philadelphia, Kathleen reports glowingly on a recent visit from "Peter and Toshi Seeger .. we had a day of fine singing and getting reacquainted. you can bet it was a grand reunion. Pete's banjo rings like the bells of heaven. He is the Rockwell Kent of folk music, a precisionist, coldly beautiful sounds from a well defined technique." Charles Lightbody (1904-1970) was a Kansas-born historian who taught at St. Lawrence University from 1930 to 1942 and later at the University of Saskatchewan, and at Brandon College in Manitoba.

[Also With:] Related ephemera including M. Knoedler Alaska Drawings by Rockwell Kent 1919. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1919. * A program for "The Right to Travel" An exhibition of paintings, lithographs and engravings by Rockwell Kent. Art of Today Gallery, 17-30 October 1955. * A typed letter signed by a group of Russians who had enjoyed the Kents' hospitality, 3 January 1943. * An April 1948 offprint of his column, "We Hold these Truths." * A telegram from Kent to Charles Lightbody, 8 April 1943. * The October 1937 issue of Demcourier featuring a portrait of Kent on the cover. * An unsigned typed letter from Charles Lightbody [to the Kents] thanking them for their hospitality on their fist visit to the Asgaard farm, Plattsburgh, 17 March [1943]. * three color greeting cards and a color postcard featuring Kent's work.
Artist:Rockwell Kent (1882 - 1971)
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
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