John Frederick Kensett
John Frederick Kensett
1816 - 1872
American painter and engraver. Born into a family of skilled engravers, he learnt the craft first from his father, Thomas Kensett (1786–1829), and then from his uncle Alfred Daggett (1799–1872). From this training he acquired the consummate skill that made him an exceptional draughtsman. The engraver’s attention to tonal modulation of the grey scale also contributed to Kensett’s extraordinary exploration of colour values and saturation in his paintings (see fig.).
In 1840, in the company of Asher B. Durand, John Casilear, and Thomas Rossiter (1818–71), Kensett went to Europe, where he remained for seven years, studying Old Master works and developing his skills as a painter in London, Paris, and Rome. On his return to America, he was immediately recognized as one of the most gifted painters of his time. He was soon elected an associate (1848) and then a full member (1849) of the National Academy of Design, New York. Kensett exhibited there in 1838 and 1845 and then annually from 1847 until his death.
Kensett’s work as a landscape and coastal view painter is endowed with superb draughtsmanship, a suffusive aerial perspective, and refined palette. The White Mountains, from North Conway (1851; Wellesley Coll., MA, Mus.) demonstrates his total and skilful assimilation of the style and techniques of the HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL. His experimentation with the saturation and values of hues resulted in a warm shimmering effect of light that permeates his finest compositions (see LUMINISM (I)). The broad vistas across valleys and over wide expanses of water, which typify his work, always create a distinct articulation of hour and mood. Marine off Big Rock (1864; Jacksonville, FL, Cummer Gal. A.) is a mature example of Kensett’s departure from Hudson River school imagery and the development of his own unique handling of the style and techniques of landscape painting of the period; the work contains a sense of balanced, geometric precision and a spareness that contrasts with his earlier, more crowded pictures. Sunset on the Sea (1872; New York, Met.) typifies the final phase of Kensett’s career: a distillation of forms, a simplicity of design, and a rich evocation of hue. His last paintings explore colour and create a mood of intimate tranquillity, expressing a spirituality that is noteworthy in 19th-century American art. [John Driscoll. "Kensett, John Frederick." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed September 9, 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T046254.]
Kensett’s ideas influenced Ogden Rood, whose book, Modern Chromatics (New York, 1879), was significant to the development of Georges Seurat’s colour theory. Kensett’s stature in the art community is reflected in his prominent role in the functions and affairs of the National Academy of Design and the Artists Fund Society. He was a founder-member of the Century Association and in 1870 a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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