Corita Kent Art

We Don't Turn Out Perfect Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986) Signature Faded Lower Right in Pencil 14.5 x 29.75 inches 15.75 x 30.75 inches with frame Sister Mary Corita Kent, once t...

Corita Kent Rainbow Covenant, 1971 Color lithograph on wove paper Signed in graphite pencil, and notated ed. 200 (edition of 200) Limited Edition of 200 Vintage metal 1970s frame Included One of the most coveted and elusive graphic works done by Sister Mary Corita Kent - done in the most desirable era. Pencil signed on the front in a stated limited edition of 200 Held in vintage 1970s metal frame under glass. Measurements: Framed 23 inches by 23 inches by 1.25 inches Artwork: 22.75 inches vertical by 22.75 inches Commissioned by The Rainbow Shop in Beverly Hills for Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children. The quote on its face reads: "I put my rainbow in the clouds and it shall be a symbol of the covenant between myself and the world. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. And then I will remember my covenant." - Genesis 9 This Rainbow print was done in 1971 - the same year Sister Corita painted her rainbow swash on the 150-foot-high LNG storage tanks in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. It is not only a visible landmark, it is the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. One of Boston’s most controversial works of art hangs not in a museum, but on the walls of a massive gas storage tank. Originally painted by Sister Mary Corita Kent in 1971, the rainbow swashes are a welcome, lighthearted burst of color that have had some Bostonians up in arms for four decades. An outspoken pacifist during the Vietnam War, Kent painted simple pop art posters with with messages like, Stop the Bombing, Love is Here to Say, and I Should Like to Be Able to Love My Country and Still Love Justice. Sister Corita Kent Known for her willingness to stick it to the man, Kent ran into a bit of controversy after painting the gas tank in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, off Interstate 93 south of downtown. The largest copyrighted work of art in the world, the Rainbow Swash consists of orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple stripes strewn over a white background on the tank. On the left side of the blue strip, there’s a subtle profile of an eye and nose and seemingly long-pointed goatee beneath. Considering Kent’s background and the politically tumultuous times, some people took on the belief that the profile was a portrait of Ho Chi Minh in protest against the Vietnam War. She denied the allegations and things were pretty much left there, but either for its enjoyable aesthetics or long-lasting message, the piece remained right there for Boston’s millions of daily commuters. Even in 1992 when they tore down the original tank, the Swash was immediately reproduced on a new, similar-looking tank. Today, it’s considered a distinguished mark of the city. When parents take their kids home from a day at Fenway or the Museum of Science, they point to the tank and challenge their children to find the hidden face. In 1985, The U.S. Postal Service sold more than 700 million of Corita Kent's Love’ postage stamps. The bright, optimistic design typified her work. Corita Kent was born Frances Elizabeth Kent Nov. 20, 1918 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to devout Catholic parents. Just after graduating from high school, she followed her older sister and joined the Roman Catholic order of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles. As Sister Mary Corita, she taught art at Immaculate Heart College from 1938 to 1968, eventually heading the department. At the college she created bold, colorful silkscreen works. She incorporated spiritual themes and literary and political writings with product slogans, street signs, and Beatles lyrics...

Sister Mary Corita Kent (1918 - 1986) Abstract Red, Purple Watercolor on paper Image 12 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches Signed lower right Provenance: Larry Linksey, Los Angeles, California Private Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico Matthews Gallery, Santa Fe Sister Mary Corita Kent, once the nation's best-known nun, won fame as a serigraph artist. Her bright, colorful silk-screen prints were the rage of the 1960s. She designed the United States' first "Love" postage stamp. Mary Corita Kent was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1918, then moved with her family to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1920. Two years later they moved to Los Angeles, where she grew up. She joined the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary there in 1938. She received her bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in 1941, followed by a master's in art history 10 years later from the University of Southern California. Popularly known as "Sister Mary Corita," she turned to the silk-screen process in 1950. Her large compositions combine quotations, often from the Bible or modern poetry, with religious or secular images. During her career as an artist and teacher, Kent also designed greeting cards and book covers. She achieved fame in the early 1960s with her brightly colored silkscreen posters. Some of her work includes excerpts from the writings of Carl Jung, e.e. cummings and Rainer Maria Rilke. She began adding words to her designs because, she said, "I have been nuts about words and their shape since I was very young." Sister Mary Corita became one of our country's most celebrated artists and gained international fame through her creative, magical use of color and words. As a muralist, her critically acclaimed 40-foot mural for the Vatican Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair also brought her worldwide attention. She taught at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, the art department of which, under her creative direction, established itself as a center for the art of learning as well as the learning of art. Buckminster Fuller described his visit to the department as "among the most fundamentally inspiring experiences of my life." As a teacher, she was known as a challenger, a free-thinker, a celebrator, an encourager. She taught her students that one of the most important rules, when looking at art or watching films, was never to allow yourself to blink. One might miss something extremely valuable. And what the students cherished most about her competence as a teacher was that she always made eye-contact with each individual, giving herself to each charge entirely. Perhaps becoming a celebrity came too soon for the nun. It was something she never asked to be, but she carried the burdens of stardom with grace, kindness, and loving warmth. She never was arrogant, and accepted the status because she believed it would help the College of the Immaculate Heart where she was teaching, and she thought it would be good for her community of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Corita became a symbol of the modern nun and was often the target of conservative Catholics, particularly when she turned to regular street dress...

Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita) We Can Create Life Without War Serigraph Print Image: 14.75 x 18" Frame: 23.13 x 26.13 x 1" 1984 Signed and inscribed to lower edge 'without war AP C...

Corita Kent I Love You Very Serigraph Print Image; 11.88 x 11.88" Frame: 18.5 x 18.25 x 1" 1971 Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘ed 200 Corita’.