Mailbag

Letters, emails, missives of all types are welcome.

Please email us at willross@rockwellkent.us

Please let us know if you are willing to have your missive, name and email address published on this page

Rhonda Butler, Owner of Asgaard Farm (Kent’s former home in Upstate New York), writes to the Forum:
Will,

Wonderful to see this publication online, it is a great resource…we will make a link to our website asgaardfarm.com if that is ok!
I hope the news that finally in January the  placement of Rockwell Kent’s Asgaard Farm on the National Register of Historic Places was confirmed.  I hope this information has been communicated around the Kent community.  As you know this is a project that we worked on for the past few years and are absolutely delighted.  Many responded to the news saying ‘I thought Asgaard was on the National Register’, so this is much overdue!  We have wanted this to happen for some time and finally got around to it!

While we have welcomed many people to Asgaard over the years, the COVID19 situation has certainly put constraints on visitors this summer.  Our event and events of  those organizations we have invited here have mostly been postponed or cancelled.  Nonetheless many Kent experts and followers continue to arrive during our store pick up hours.  We have welcomed several painters as usual to roam the farm and paint.

The farm is at the same time operating fully, to produce dairy products for our community, as it did in the Kent years.  In fact, our products are even sought more as folks have turned back to local farms for food in this environment.  So, whilst we have sadly lost many restaurants and summer camp customers, at least so far, we are holding our own.  Please see our website www.asgaardfarm.com and our Facebook page @asgaardfarm and Instagram page @dbrunnerasgaard for continuing news of the farm, and feel free to share!

Many thanks for the work you are doing for the Kent legacy.
best, David and Rhonda

Marguerite Eisinger, former editor of the Kent Collector, writes:

Dear Will,
Thank you for sending me copy of The Rockwell Kent Forum.  What a brilliant idea and it warmed the cockles of my heart to see that RK has not been forgotten.  I really miss not being part of SPAM’s involvement with Kent and the collection housed there.  I remember there was always some intriguing bit of news that would come across my desk when I was editing The Kent Collector, so many people would come up with information that was interesting to pursue. So I am really glad you have found a way to keep the torch burning.  I am hoping that Don and Tonya will find a way to keep The Kent Review still in operation.  Don Roberts has done such a marvelous job with it.

You can be assured I will be a frequent visitor to the site and will be able to keep up with those friends I made during my involvement with The Plattsburgh State Art Museum.

All the best,
Marguerite Eisinger.

Tonya Cribb, Director of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum writes:

Arthur H. Groten, M.D. is seeking information about the 1939 Christmas Seals:

I am currently working on a major article on the 1939 seal. It will be more extensive than anything so far published.  For many years I was a keen collector of Kent’s books and prints. They have since been dispersed. I was only vaguely aware of the vast quantity of ephemera he produced. Had I known of this facet of his work, I would probably still be collecting him..

As a long-time philatelist and ephemerist, I knew of his work on this 1939 seal but the material was closely held. I have been able, finally, to procure it and have most everything I need for the story, including the correspondence in the Archives of American Art.  I am now seeking other sources of information and respectfully ask you to help me. I will, of course, acknowledge your help, unless you wish me not to.

In particular, I am looking for his set of original drawings. They were used by the printers and were, as a matter of course, returned to him when they were no longer needed. I have been unable to trace their current location.

I can be reached at ahinesgro@gmail.com

Much obliged.

Arthur H. Groten, M.D.