An influential American artist’s fascination with a remote corner of Co Donegal is the focus of an upcoming talk to be held in Belfast.
Rockwell Kent, one of the most popular US artists of the early 20th century, was a seasoned world traveller who in 1926 spent four months living alone in the remote Glenlough valley in Donegal’s Gaeltacht area.
Known for his dramatic landscape paintings, Kent worked from a small cowshed and during his spell in the wilderness produced 36 works showcasing the rugged wilds of Donegal.
Kent, who was born in New York in 1882, was also a writer and political activist, who would go on to be scrutinised for alleged communist sympathies by notorious US Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1953.
His passion for remote and isolated locations where he could paint took him to places including Alaska and Greenland, while his love of Ireland was such that upon having his passport reinstated in the late 1950s following a ban during the McCarthy hearings, he returned to the island in 1958, arriving in Belfast before making his way back to Donegal.
Kent’s Donegal works will be discussed at a talk on January 18 at Queen’s University Belfast’s Elmwood Building.
Hosted by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the event will feature Co Donegal author Christy Gillespie, who last year published book The Road to Glenlough.
An RGS spokesperson said: “Kent spent time in remote parts of the world...but described living in Donegal as the happiest time of his life. Based on his book...author Christy Gillespie brings the artist’s work to life with Kent’s oil paintings and drawings of Donegal.”
The RGS event takes place from 7-9pm, and is free to attend, while advance booking is not necessary.
