Ada Howe Kent (1858 – June 30, 1942) was an American artist and philanthropist. She was a mentee of

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

and worked with M. Louise Stowell. She was a member of the

American Watercolor Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

and the Rochester Art Club. Kent also had a large collection of Japanese prints.

Biography

Ada Howe Kent was a student of James Abbott McNeill in Paris, and was also a student of

Abbott Thayer Abbott Handerson Thayer (August 12, 1849May 29, 1921) was an American artist, naturalist and teacher. As a painter of portraits, figures, animals and landscapes, he enjoyed a certain prominence during his lifetime, and his paintings are represen ...

and

George de Forest Brush George de Forest Brush (September 28, 1855 – April 24, 1941) was an American painter and Georgist. In collaboration with his friend, the artist Abbott H. Thayer, he made contributions to military camouflage, as did his wife, aviator and artist ...

. She was an artist during the Arts and Crafts movement who worked closely with M. Louise Stowell and

Harvey Ellis Harvey Ellis (October 17, 1852, Rochester, New York – January 2, 1904, Syracuse, New York) was an architect, perspective renderer, painter and furniture designer. He worked in Rochester, New York; Utica, New York; St. Paul, Minnesota; Minnea ...

. Her watercolor was heavily influenced by

Japanese prints Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (160 ...

, which she had a large collection of. Her art was said to have "mystical overtones and a symbolism that is reminiscent of the

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

.” Kent worked with the Mechanics Institute to organize Arts and Crafts exhibitions. Kent was also an alum of the Livingston Park Seminary and an original member of the Rochester Tuesday Reading Club. She was a philanthropist who gifted Kent Hall to the Rochester Y.W.C.A in 1916. She was also part of the board of managers for Rochester State Industrial School.

Exhibitions

Kent had multiple exhibitions in during her life. She exhibited at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1890 and then in 1893. Kent also had exhibitions with the

Boston Art Club The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, serves to help its members, as well as non-members, to access the world of fine art. It currently has more than 250 members. History The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the co ...

in 1893, 1896 and 1905. Between 1896 and 1897, she had an exhibition in the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

Annual Exhibition. She had another exhibition with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1902. Kent also exhibited with the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

between 1900-1901 as well as 1905-1906.

Art

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Ada Wikipedia Student Program American women artists 1858 births 1942 deaths