IMAGINED REALISM : scott and stuart gentling
Scott Gentling (1942-2011) and Stuart Gentling (1942-2006) were brothers and lifelong collaborators whose artistic interests spanned centuries and crossed continents. Born in Minnesota, they moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1947. With the exception of a period of academic and professional studies in the 1960s that included time spent at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, they lived and worked together in Fort Worth until their deaths. The brothers drew strong regional support and patronage for their work-especially their painted portraits-that provided them with the means to produce more experimental work rooted in historicism and hyperrealism. Drawing from their personal passions and interests, the Gentlings painted everything from still lifes of antique costumes to posed portraiture to depictions of Aztec culture and of the natural world.0Given their prodigious, decades-long creative output, why did the brothers not achieve the recognition their art warranted during their lifetimes? Nearly every author in this volume raises this question. In fact, the Gentlings dodged opportunities for greater national attention, and their gallery representatives walked a frustrating line, struggling with the artists to advance their reputation and exposure.0What is never in question is the authenticity of their work. Devoted to history as a platform for expression, the Gentlings sought knowledge of the subjects they explored in their art with the tenacity and thoroughness of experts, weaving together an activism born from research with their rich imaginations and the veracity of work in the field. The essays and plates within these covers illuminate the careers of Scott and Stuart Gentling and attest to their contributions to American creative achievement.00Exhibition: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, USA (25.09.2021-09.01.2022)
Print Book, English, 2021
UNIV OF TEXAS PRESS, [S.l.], 2021