David Gentleman’s most recent book of paintings from his home city was published in 2020 by Particular Books, a subdivision of Penguin. A London resident of over seventy years he has spent most of that time painting and drawing a huge part of it. From the most iconic buildings to the most mundane street scene and everything in between no one else has managed to capture a record of the city in such a unique way.
This is the third in a trilogy of London books, it began with David Gentleman’s London (1985) followed by London, You’re Beautiful (2012) but unlike these, My Town also serves as a retrospective with examples of his earliest work from the early fifties onwards.
He begins the book reminiscing about his days as a young art student and his first impressions of the capital which serves as a reference point for how he sees his city today and the myriad of changes it has undergone since the end of the Second World War. Throughout the book the notion of both time and place for a man in his twilight years is palpable, Gentleman is a stoic man who is grateful rather than bitter and he chooses other subjects to rail against.
Wood engravings featured heavily in his early years as well as his brilliant covers for the Penguin New Shakespeare editions and London Transport and these are featured too.
This is an inspired collection, for as many truly stunning pieces of art there are rough sketches and quick paintings too, it shows the confidence of an artist long past worrying about opinions and critics and rather an authentic exposure of his work and his view of his home city.
Books and artists like Gentleman seem more important than ever, these are real, tangible images in a world of fakers and AI programming. If anyone deserves a second wind it’s David Gentleman.
See also:
The Life and Bibliography of the artist David Gentleman
David Gentleman’s In the Country
Categories: David Gentleman
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