With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
William Kent
Printmaking, Sculpture
1919 – 2012
- Biography/Description of Work
Born William Williamson in Missouri, Kent came to New Haven as a music graduate student after serving in the Navy during World War II. He became interested in printmaking, and began working in a variant of Pop art. His early work reflects social and political themes of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Vietnam War and environmental issues. His later wood sculptures combine elements of Pop art imagery, surrealism, and satire with a virtuosic skill in the woodcarver’s craft. A prolific artist, although not widely known or financially successful, his work is represented in the collections of several museums in Connecticut, including the New Britain Museum of American Art, Yale University Art Gallery and Florence Griswold Museum. Kent moved to Durham in 1964 to a farmstead that offered a refuge and nurtured creativity.
- Sources view
- William Kent Foundation, site visit and interview, 7/15/2014. Beloff, Marvin. William Kent: the story of my friendship with the Master Sculptor. Marvin Beloff, 2013, www.woodbowties.com. https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/RANDALL-BEACH-Durham-s-hidden-treasure-the-11843886.php
- Associated Resource(s)