Chronology

This chronology of Kenyon’s life is derived from disparate sources: biographies of his friends and acquaintances, newspaper articles, notations on paintings and sketchbooks, and listings of exhibitions. As Kenyon is not known to have kept a diary or day book, there remain lacunae. Occasional points of confusion arise when a painting has a date noted on the back yet stylistically the date seems improbable; some judgments have been made that may be modified with future information.

 

  • 1861 Henry Rodman Kenyon (henceforth HRK) was born on March 29 in Centreville, Rhode Island, to Charles Dake Kenyon (1825-1895) and Mary Eliza Rodman (1838-1895), who were married in 1859 in the Quaker faith.
  • 1870s HRK attends the Friends School (now the Moses Brown School) in Providence, Rhode Island.
  • 1879-1882 HRK attends Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.
  • 1882, age 21 The first trip to Europe. He enrolls in the Academie Julian in Paris, studying under Lefebvre and Boulanger.
  • 1883, age 22 A dated sketchbook reveals extensive travel in France.
  • 1884, age 23 Spends time in the Brittany region of France, where he probably meets Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922), who arrives in Paris and enters the Academie Julian.
  • 1885, age 24 From May to December HRK stays at the Pension Marie Jeanne Gloanec, Pont-Aven, France, in the company of Dow.
  • 1886, age 25 HRK returns to America.
    • March – First exhibition of paintings at Hooper’s Art Gallery in Providence. Thirty-three paintings exhibited, primarily of Breton subjects, and thirty-two works sold.
    • September – returns to Brittany, staying at Concarneau. Visits Dow there at Pont-Aven, where Gauguin was also painting at the time.
  • 1887, age 26 In November he embarks from Holland for America with his recent works on the ocean steamer William A. Scholten. The ship sinks in the English Channel after a collision with a British freighter with loss of more than 130 lives. Kenyon was rescued after six hours in the water, but the art was lost.
  • 1888, age 27
    • April – returns to France in the company of Dow and Minnie Eleanor Pearson, Dow’s fiancee.
    • May – July – time in Pont-Aven and subsequently Verona and Venice.
  • 1889, age 28
    • Exhibits A Foggy Morning at Venice in the Paris Salon. The work was purchased by Augustine Jones, principal of the Moses Brown School in Providence, and donated to the school. HRK shares a studio with Dow on Impasse du Maine, Paris. He decides to cease his formal art training.
    • August – returns to America in Dow’s company.
    • November – exhibits Foggy Morning at Venice, Fishing Boat, and Sunset at the Adriatic at the Providence Art Club. Visits Dow’s hometown Ipswich, Massachusetts, for the first time.
  • 1890, age 29 Paints at Ipswich in the company of Dow, Walter Gilman Page, and Mr. Emerson while maintaining a studio in the Conrad Building in Providence.
  • 1890-1898 Kenyon takes several painting trips to Europe. Exhibits Spring at the Providence Art Club.
    • 1895 March, age 34 – exhibits December Twilight and October Moon at the Providence Art Club.
    • Kenyon’s parents die within weeks of each other.
  • 1899, age 38
    • June 15 – marries Caroline Anita Savary (1864-1943)
    • December- HRK and his bride arrive in London
  • 1900, age 39 HRK and wife travel the English countryside on bicycles.
  • 1901, age 40 The couple settle in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and build a house, to be known as Riverbank House, on a lane off Labor-in-Vain Road.
  • 1908, age 47 Travels to Holland. Later Visits Ogunquit, Maine, for the probably first time.
  • 1910, age 49 Visits the local painting colony at Ogunquit, Maine
  • 1911 Autumn, age 50 Rents Mary Ann Cottage in Wilton, New Hampshire, for the first time. Will spend many autumns there in the years to come.
  • 1913 Spring, age 52 Exhibits at the National Academy of Design, New York, New York.
  • 1914, age 53
  • 1915, age 54 Exhibits two paintings at the National Academy of Design.
  • 1916, age 55 Exhibits one painting at the National Academy of Design.
  • 1917, age 56 Exhibits two paintings at the National Academy of Design.
  • 1918, age 57 Exhibits two paintings at the National Academy of Design. Spends the Autumn at Mary Ann Cottage in Wilton, New Hampshire.
  • 1919, age 58 August, exhibits one work in the 4th Annual Exhibition, Gallery on the Moors, East Gloucester,Massachusetts.
  • 1920, age 59
  • 1922, age 61 Begins to exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute Rental Gallery. This continues until after Kenyon’s death.
  • 1923, age 62 Exhibits in the Copley Galleries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  • 1924, age 63 Exhibits eight paintings at A. and E. Milch, Inc. in New York City
  • 1926, age 64 January 16, dies suddenly of pneumonia in New Orleans while en route to Arizona and California.
  • three paintings exhibited at William Macbeth, Inc., New York, New York.
  • 1926-1927 Three paintings included in the American Federation of Arts circulating exhibition34 Recent Paintings by Contemporary American Artists.
  • 1943 May 27, Caroline Kenyon dies.