Born in Loveland, Colorado, Kenneth Warnock Evett was a muralist. Evett preferred to work with watercolors and oils. He graduated from Colorado State College with a B.A. in 1935, and from Colorado College with an M.A. in 1939. He also studied at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center under Boardman Robinson, George Biddle, Henry Varnum Poor, and Peppino Mangravite from 1937 to 1940.

In the 1930s, Evett was commissioned to paint murals at post offices in Golden, Colorado. Evett's work was exhibited at the Denver Art Museum in 1936. In the late 1940's and early 1950's, Evett's work was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1954, Evett won the national competition for painting three murals in the Nebraska State Capitol rotunda. Evett's work was exhibited at the Norfolk Museum in the 1960's, and in 1968, his work won awards at the Rochester Museum and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. Evett had ten solo shows at the Kraushaar Gallery in New York City from 1948-1981. In the early 1980's, Evett's work was exhibited at the National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian).

Evett was an art critic for the New Republic magazine from 1972-1977. He wrote essays on art, architecture, and The New Realism. He also wrote for "The Bookpress" in the mid-1990s. He taught at Cornell University from 1948-1970, and became a professor of art Emeritus. Evett was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1994.

Exhibited: Denver Art Mus., 1936; PAFA, 1947-48, 1953; WMAA, 1947, 1952-54; MMA, 1953; CGA Biennial, 1953; AIC, 1954; Norfolk Mus., 1966; Rochester Mus., 1968 (drawing prize); Munson-Williams-Proctor Inst., 1968 (purchase prize); Kraushaar Gal., NYC, 1970s.

Works held: WPA mural, USPO, Horton, KS; Montclair Mus., NJ; Colorado Springs FAC; Munson-Williams-Proctor Inst., Utica, NY; Andrew Dickson White Mus., Cornell Univ., NY; Univ. Arizona. Commissions: three murals for rotunda of Nebraska State Capital, 1954.

Further Reading: Pikes Peak Vision: The Broadmoor Art Academy, 1919-1945. The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center: Colorado Springs, 1989.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. I. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds.,Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.

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