Maine Lobsterman 1955

Rockwell Kent made this painting of a Maine lobsterman, and the ocean he works on, probably sometime in the first half of the 20th Century. The blending is so smooth, it’s hard to see the brushstrokes, making it feel like the scene just appeared, almost magically, on the canvas. Look at the way Kent builds up the image with layers of color, those blues, greens, and browns feel so solid. The rocks in the foreground are painted in such a way that you can almost feel their weight and coolness. Then your eye travels to the lobsterman, a tiny figure in a small boat, amidst this vast landscape, he’s somehow dwarfed and yet holding his own. Kent's earlier, more graphic style reminds me of woodcuts. Maybe he was thinking about the sea, and also the history of American painting - like Winslow Homer? Anyway, this work embodies art as an exchange of ideas across time, inviting multiple interpretations.