Flame

In Rockwell Kent's mythic image, a solitary reclining nude man extends his left arm heavenward against a brilliant flame showering sparks that appear like stars in a black nighttime sky. Snow-capped mountain peaks rise in the background, suggesting the setting of an elemental landscape. The artist meticulously cut the wood block and skillfully orchestrated contrasts of richly inked black areas with the white of the paper to create this heroic image of an individual confronting a limitless cosmos by asserting his unique, aspiring presence. Flame exemplifies Kent's use of the woodcut medium to emphasize the stark power of his universal themes. During the 1920s and 1930s Kent was celebrated for his brilliant book illustrations and wood engravings. The artist often journeyed to remote lands of the extreme northern and southern latitudes, seeking places where he could better contemplate the mystery of human existence amid the immensity of the wilderness and the infinite universe beyond. These locales inspired his writings, illustrations, and independent artworks such as Flame, which ranks as one of Kent's more important images. A drawing for this print was used as the frontispiece and dust jacket image for the book Burning Bush by American poet and author Louis Untermeyer, published in 1928, and Flame appears as a title page vignette in Kent's own 1934 book How I Make a Woodcut.

L'Amérique et les Modernes, 1900–1950 (American Moderns, 1900–1950), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 25–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

Atelier 17: Modern Printmaking in the Americas (Atelier 17: Gravura moderna nas Américas, Museu De Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP) and Terra Foundation for American Art (organizer). Venue: Museu De Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP), March 23–June 2, 2019. [exh. cat.]

Kent, Rockwell and Carl Zigrosser. Rockwellkentiana: Few Words and Many Pictures. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1933. Ill. p. 27.

Jones, Dan Burne. The Prints of Rockwell Kent: A Catalogue Raisonné. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1975. No. 24, p. 26.

Spangler, William J. "The Legacies of Rockwell Kent." Print Review 14 (1981): 53–63 (an impression of this print is illustrated on p. 55).

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. American Moderns, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Fig. 1, p. 75 (black & white); back cover (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Fig. 1, p. 75 (black & white); back cover (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Rossetti de Toledo, Carolina, Ana Gonçalves Magalhães, and Peter John Brownlee. Atelier 17 e a gravura moderna nas Americas / Atelier 17 and Modern Printmaking in the Americas. (exh. cat., Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo). São Paulo, Brazil: 2019. Text pp. 238–239; ill. p. 237 (color).