I       Jake Milgram Wien        |
 

check for S2,000,"'"* presumably for published
"Hogarth Jr." drawings."'''' The editor of Vanity
Fair, Frank Crowninshield, once gave Kent a
book to take to Chappell."''' The two played
tennis together,"' and Chappell often acted as
a go-between for Kent, who treated Chappell's
architectural office as a second home and
address for reply letters from his inamorala.

Carl Zigrosser, Curator of Prints, Draw¬
ings, and Rare Books at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art from 1941-1963, early on
earned Kent's respect as an intellect and, as
director of Weyhe Gallery, became a pivotal
promoter of Kent's career as a printmaker.
Kent contributed articles and artwork to
"Zigrosser's little magazine," a reference to
The Modern School, the progre.ssive journal of
the Francisco Ferrer Association that es¬
poused principles of libertarian education.^
Zigrosser wrote to Kent in Alaska "regularly
and beautifullv.""''^

Marie Sterner was the major catalyst for
Kent's success in the commercial arena. As
gallery director of Knoedler, Sterner orga¬
nized an exhibition of Kent's Alaska ink
drawings in early 1919 and another exhibition
of Kent's Alaska paintings in early 1920. Not
only was she Kent's dealer and devoted
promoter; Sterner became as well his confi¬
dante, well versed in his "triangle" problems.
Kent mentions more than once to Hildegarde
how highly Sterner had regarded her.^"
Sterner's departure "for Europe on May 1st,"
 

1920,'' is most likely the "voyage" over water
alluded to in a small manuscript Kent dedi¬
cated to her in 1920 that was decorated with
his ink drawings.''" Kent writes of Sterner's
Junior Art Patrons of America and his as¬
sistance toward organizing its inaugural
exhibition in 1921. Kent boasted that one of
his paintings occupied "the place of honor"
and that all his paintings together "dominate
the show"—a sight that naturally gave him
great pleasure.^"^

The Letters to Ernesta Drinker Bullitt,

1924-1925

The second group comprises some twenty-
one letters written to Ernesta Drinker Bullitt
that join a group of nine letters from Kent to
Ernesta of the same vintage that are already
in the Rockwell Kent (Collection. There exist
other, uncatalogued Kent letters to Ernesta,
including four known to this author in the
collection of John Deedy of Rockport,
Massachusetts. All the known Ernesta letters
date from late 1924 to early 1925.

Ernesta was of an altogether different
nature from Hildegarde: wealthy, highly
educated, cosmopolitan, and a published
writer of distinction. She would marry two
distinguished writers—first, the foreign corre¬
spondent William Bullitt, and later, the
composer Samuel Barlow. Ten years Kent's
junior,    she    came    from    a    distinguished