David Gentleman (b.1930) is the last of the polymath designer-painters to have been trained at the Design School at the Royal College of Art, the alma mater of Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman and others – several of whom were his teachers. He has worked in many disciplines - as watercolourist, print-maker, muralist, designer and as the writer & illustrator of numerous books.
Gentleman's most recent book (2020) is My Town: An Artist’s Life in London. Earlier books include David Gentleman's Britain and related books on London, the British coastline, Paris, India and Italy. The platform-length mural on the underground at Charing Cross, enlarged from his wood engravings, is one of London’s most familiar station designs. He has designed postage stamps for Royal Mail, coins, symbols and anti-Iraq war placards. His work is represented in Tate Britain, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Design Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum and private collections.
David Gentleman 'On Location’, a selling exhibition of Gentleman’s watercolours and drawings made on his travels over fifty years, 1954-2004, was staged by Patrick Bourne & Co in November 2021.
