KENT—The Kent Art Association is presenting an exhibit, “Retrospectives Invitational Show,” through Nov. 30.
An opening reception will be held Friday, Nov. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The show will feature the life works of KAA member artist Werner Kappes, the works of the late Frank Habbas, and “The Art of Fashion,” a sampling of the fashion illustrations by the late Kermit Addler.
The original Adler illustrations from the 1990s are from the collection of Jeanne McRoberts, who owned the former Barn Shop in Kent and hired Adler to create the store’s ads.
Adler, who was born in 1927 and died in 2008, was a former Lord & Taylor creative director.
McRoberts’ new book “The Art of Fashion in the 1990s” is a retrospective about the Barn Shop and includes Adler’s illustrations. The book will be available to purchase at the show, with a portion of the proceeds to to benefit KAA.
McRoberts moved to Sherman in 1953 and began to work for the Barn Shop in 1967. The business originated in Cornwall, offering quality men’s and women’s wear.
McRoberts purchased it in 1973 and moved the shop to downtown Kent in 1988. Adler did the illustrations for her ads until 2002 when she closed the shop.
Born in New York City, Adler graduated from the High School of Music and Arts and the Parsons School of Design Mexico’s Escuela de Bellas Artes. He began his career at Lord & Taylor as an art director and illustrator in the advertising department in the early 1950s.
He later became co-creative director, a position he shared with his wife, Pat.
In 1962, he left Lord & Taylor to become an art director at Saks Fifth Avenue, but a year later he left Saks to become an art consultant. After 10 years, he returned to Lord & Taylor as an art director and vice president.
Adler was also a watercolor painter, exhibiting in one-man and group shows. During his career he designed Christmas cards as well as covers for New York Cue magazine. He retired from Lord & Taylor in 1987.
Kappes has been creating art for more than 40 years as an art director and senior art editor for McCall’s magazine, winning numerous awards for editorial design.
Following his work with McCall’s, he went on to freelance as an illustrator creating art for major publications, advertising agencies, and design firms.
His illustrations have appeared in many leading magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, TV Guide, Good Housekeeping, New Woman, Redbook, Country Living, and many others.
He lives in New Preston, where he maintains a studio. As a visual artist, he is drawn to nature and the human form and its abstractions, always painting directly.
Habbas began his artistic career at the original School of Industrial Arts, now The High School of Art & Design. After serving as a military police officer in Okinawa during the Korean War, he enrolled in the Cartoonist & Illustrators School, now School of Visual Arts, where he ultimately finished his art education.
Soon after, Habbas worked on the staff of the New York Herald Tribune as a promotion and editorial artist and, after nine years, he established a full-service agency and studio on the East Side of Manhattan in Tudor City.
A wide variety of clients soon gave this small agency national exposure. Clients included the Ford Foundation, Reader’s Digest, Parade Magazine, Simon & Schuster, BBDO, and a variety of advertising agencies.
With particular focus on the human form, he produced a sizable body of work in traditional oil painting.
Habbas died June 30, 2024, at the age of 91. It was only recently, within six months of his passing, that he decided to exhibit his paintings for the first time, at Five Pints Gallery in Torrington and The Hen’s Nest in Washington.
His wife, Ginny, and his daughter, Amy, expressed their appreciation to the KAA for providing the venue for his works to be shared with the community.
The Kent Art Association, located at 21 South Main St., is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
For more information, call 860-927-3989.
Kent Art Association was formed in 1923, and is located at 21 South Main St. Visit www.kentart.org.
