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Philip Kappel
Marine Printmaker
b. 1901
Born in Hartford, CT, Kappel was introduced to art through visits to the Wadsworth Atheneum and local print shops. During his years at hartford High School, Kappel helped to support his family by working as a staff artist for the Hartford Courant. His ability was promising and he earned a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
During his college years Kappel taught art in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Artist Philip Little saw Kappel's work and was so impressed he gave him use of his studio near Salem, Mass, where kappel went on the spend 17 summers. The friendship with Little exposed Kappel to may others in the art world who would influence his future.
The time he spent in Salem, Mass gave him his love for the sea, and the subject of seafaring. From the studio over the harbor Kappel could see coastal schooners and full-rigged sailing ships. Lured by the call of the sea, Kappel set sail to the West Indies in 1928 and spent a year in Haiti making drypoints of the waterfront activity. Upon his return from Haiti, Kappel offered his prints for exhibit in a New York gallery where they were favorably received. They appealed to many in the marine industries and several New York shipping houses. Kappel received comissions to make prints of their ships.
The late 1920s were productive years for Kappell. His work was regularly on exhibit in many cities and, in 1931, a group of 38 prints were selected for exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC.
In the early 1930s Kappel left New York for Connecticut where he restored a mid-18th century farmhouse and furnished it with antiques and souveniers of the sea. He continued working through the 1970s, publishing 2 books and exploring new areas such as Louisiana and Jamaica. In 1966 Trinity College in hartford confered upon Kappel the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts for his contribution to American printmaking.