In 2002 Ebury Press published Artwork, a retrospective of the art of David Gentleman. The publication was ‘supported by’ the Royal Mail, who Gentleman has been working with since the early sixties and this book features many of his designs for British and Commonwealth stamps.
Reading this book it becomes immediately apparent how so many of those who live in the United Kingdom will have unwittingly come across his work in one way or another. For his reach is broad; from stamps to posters, the drivers Highway Code to adult and children’s books, his long career has produced a huge volume of work and this book, in Gentleman’s words, explains how he did it.
This is by far the most comprehensive account of his designs for the Royal Mail. His paintings were a radical departure from what had gone before, transforming the way in which Queen Elizabeth 2nd was portrayed in the mid sixties, a quite unimaginable thought until that point.
The designs for the 1966 World Cup stamp came via Gentleman Commissioning a young photographer called Peter Boyce to photograph a couple of amateur footballers with one being selected by the Post Office with the addition of England Winners thus becoming the first stamp to show living commoners.
In 1987 his book A Special Relationship was published by Faber and Faber. This came on the back of his realisation that the so-called special relationship between America and Britain was heavily stacked in America’s favour and America’s bombing of Libya via British airbases in 1986 would become the catalyst for the book. At only sixty four pages the book still made quite the impact, those on the political left and right hated it in equal measure and it would spurn him on to make more controversial images including a campaign for Greenpeace against Esso, the world’s largest oil company in 2001.
Gentleman describes the process for the cover artwork for the Alexandria novels by Lawrence Durrell; then first three were based on pictures from cheap guidebooks to Egypt whilst the cover for Mountolive was inspired by photographs of the Namibian desert.
Much of the books I review by David Gentleman are those were he is the sole author but amongst the many books he illustrated for others are some real gems. His engravings for John Clare were subconsciously inspired by his own childhood of typically boyish countryside pursuits during the height of World War Two.
For those fans of Gentleman’s stamp designs then this is the book for them, the insight into their designs is fascinating. In the 1970s he was asked by the Island of Nauru, the smallest member of the Commonwealth to visit their Pacific island and design a set of stamps for them. He stayed for three months, his contract paid enough to take his wife and two children and it’s hard not to feel a pang of envy at his good fortune.
This is a great introduction to Gentleman’s work, there are copies still available for sale online and if you need any further convincing click on the links below..
See also:
David Gentleman’s In the Country
Categories: David Gentleman
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