ROCKWELL KENT (1882-1971) "Wilfred." Illustration published in A Basket of Poses by George S. Chappell, with pictures by Hogarth Jr. [Rockwell Kent], (New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1924). Pen and ink on starched cloth mounted to board. 178x122 mm; 7x4 3/4 inches. Unsigned but with Kent's estate ink stamp in lower right of board which also bears the stamp of Egmont Arens/Flying Stag Press on verso.
Provenance: The artist; by descent to family; Larcada Gallery, New York; Parke-Bernet Eighty-Four, New York, 2 March 1977; acquired by the present owner from the above.
Basket of Poses was Kent's third published book and the first to bear his pseudonym of Hogarth Jr.
Published: The Illustrations of Rockwell Kent by Fridolf Johnson, New York: Dover, (1976), page 17.
Kent's good friend Chappell wrote popular humorous verse, mainly for Vanity Fair, Frank Crowninshield's fashionable monthly magazine. Kent submitted an illustration to accompany one of Chappell's satirical poems but signed it "Hogarth Jr." in an attempt to remain anonymous in what he believed to be a frivolous publication. It turned out to be the beginning of an easy and lucrative collaboration that produced several books and periodicals.
