David Gentleman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Gentleman
RDI
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Mural at Charing Cross Underground Station
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David William Gentleman
11 March 1930 Brentford, London, England
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| Education | Royal College of Art |
| Occupation | Artist and designer |
| Known for | Illustrations |
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| Children | 4, including Amelia |
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David William Gentleman (born 11 March 1930) is a famous English artist and designer. He studied art at the Royal College of Art in London. He is known for his amazing work in many different art forms. These include watercolour paintings, lithography (a type of printing), and wood engraving.
His art can be seen everywhere, from huge murals in London's underground stations to tiny postage stamps and company logos. David Gentleman's work often shows landscapes, city life, and even protest messages. He has also written and illustrated many books about different countries and cities.
About David Gentleman
David Gentleman was born in Brentford, West London, in 1930. He grew up in Hertford. His parents, Tom Gentleman and Winifred Gentleman, were also artists from Scotland. They met at the Glasgow School of Art.
After school, David served in the army for a short time. Then, he went to the Royal College of Art, where he learned a lot about art. After finishing his studies, he became a freelance artist, meaning he worked for himself.
Since 1956, he has lived and worked in Camden Town, London. He also has a home in Huntingfield, Suffolk. He has four children. His art is displayed in many important museums, like Tate Britain and the British Museum.
David Gentleman's Artworks
Watercolours and Drawings
David Gentleman loves to paint and draw landscapes, buildings, and people. He uses these drawings in his design projects too. Many of his beautiful watercolour paintings show places in London, Suffolk, and other parts of Britain. He has also traveled widely to places like France, Italy, and India to create art.
His drawings and watercolours have been used on many different items. You can find them on fabrics, wallpapers, and even dinner plates made by Wedgwood. He has also illustrated books, including My Town: An Artist’s Life in London, which came out in 2020.
Wood Engravings and the Underground Mural
David Gentleman started his career making wood engravings for book covers, greeting cards, and other designs. Wood engraving is a special way of carving images into wood to make prints.
One of his most famous works is a huge 100-meter-long mural at Charing Cross tube station in London. This mural, created in 1978, is like a giant comic strip. It shows how the medieval Eleanor Cross was built, from getting the stone to placing the top part. The images of stonemasons and sculptors are enlarged to life-size, making it feel like they are working alongside today's passengers.
Books He Wrote and Illustrated
David Gentleman has written and illustrated many books himself. Between 1982 and 1997, he created six travel books. These books explored places like Britain, London, Paris, India, and Italy. More recently, he published London You’re Beautiful (2012) and My Town: An Artist’s Life in London (2020).
He also wrote and illustrated four children's books about a small child named Fenella on holiday. These books are called Fenella in Ireland, Greece, Spain, and the South of France.
Illustrations for Other Books
Besides his own books, David Gentleman has illustrated many books written by other authors. He drew pictures for the cookbook Plats du Jour. He also illustrated classic stories like The Swiss Family Robinson and The Jungle Book. He has created illustrations for several other children's books, including The Dancing Tigers by Russell Hoban.
Stamps, Coins, and Logos
David Gentleman is famous for designing postage stamps. Between 1962 and 2000, he designed 103 stamps for the Post Office in Britain. This made him the most active stamp designer in the country at that time. His stamp designs celebrated many important events and people, such as Shakespeare, Churchill, and Concorde.
He even helped change how British stamps looked. He suggested using a smaller picture of the Queen's profile instead of a large photograph. This idea made it possible to have simpler and more varied stamp designs, which are still used today. He won awards for his stamp designs in 1969 and 1979. In 2022, the Royal Mail released a set of stamps celebrating his designs.
He has also designed two coins for the Royal Mint. One coin celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale in 2004. The other, in 2007, marked 200 years since the Act for the abolition of the slave trade. David Gentleman has also designed logos, like the one for the National Trust.
Posters for Change
David Gentleman has designed many posters for public organizations. These include posters for London Transport and the Imperial War Museum.
He also used his art to make powerful statements. Before the Iraq war in 2003, he designed a simple poster that just said 'No'. This poster was carried by many people during protest marches. He created other protest signs too, like 'No more lies'. In 2007, he created a very large art installation to show the number of people killed in that war. He printed 100,000 bloodstains on cards and spread them out in Parliament Square. This was a very strong visual message.
Lithographs and Screenprints
David Gentleman's early lithographs were posters for student plays and exhibitions. Lithography is a printing method where an image is drawn on a stone or metal plate. He created many colourful lithographs showing buildings and landscapes. He also made screenprints, which are another type of printmaking. Some of these works are part of the collections at Tate Britain.
Exhibitions of His Work
David Gentleman's art has been shown in many exhibitions. These shows allow people to see his amazing watercolours and other works up close.
Solo Exhibitions
- India, Mercury Gallery, London, 1970.
- South Carolina, Mercury Gallery, London 1973.
- Kenya and Zanzibar, Mercury Gallery, London, 1976.
- Nauru and Samoa, Mercury Gallery, London, 1981.
- Britain, Mercury Gallery, London, 1982.
- London, Mercury Gallery, London, 1985.
- The British Coastline, Mercury Gallery, London, 1988.
- Paris, Mercury Gallery, London, 1991.
- India, Mercury Gallery, London, 1994.
- Italy, Mercury Gallery, London, 1987.
- City of London, Mercury Gallery, London, 2000.
- David Gentleman: from Andalusia to Zanzibar, Fine Art Society, 2004.
- Recent work, Fine Art Society, 2007.
- David Gentleman at eighty, Fine Art Society, 2010.
- David Gentleman: London, You're Beautiful, Fine Art Society, 2012.
- David Gentleman: In the Country, Fine Art Society, 2014.
- David Gentleman: My Town: An Artist’s Life in London, Patrick Bourne & Co, 2020.
Special Exhibitions
- Gentleman on Stamps, The British Postal Museum & Archive, London, 2009–2010.
- "The Kite Needs the String: the book illustration of David Gentleman", Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections, 2010–2011.
