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David Gentleman was born in 1930 to artist parents, and studied at the St Albans School of Art and the RCA. Since then he has lived and worked in London as an artist and designer. In the fifties he began wood engraving and book illustration, and in the sixties he designed his first stamps. In the seventies he held the first of many exhibitions of watercolours, made lithographs and screen-prints and designed posters, symbols and the Eleanor Cross mural in Charing Cross underground station. During the eighties and nineties he wrote and illustrated books about Britain, Paris, India and Italy, and in 2002 Artwork about his own design work. From 2003 on he designed many anti-Iraq-war march placards. Since 2012 he has published three books on Suffolk and London. His work is represented in the British Museum, Tate Britain, the V&A and the Design Museum.
This is an RDInsights Archive recording from 2010, when I spoke at length with the distinguished illustrator and graphic designer David Gentleman RDI, then celebrating his 80th year. It remains a rich and in-depth conversation, full of insight into his remarkable career and outlook. Now, fifteen years on, and with David at the age of 95, I caught up with him once again. This time our conversation was briefer, but no less engaging, as I asked what he had been up to in the intervening years. That new recording has now been added directly after the original 2010 interview, creating a fascinating pairing across time.
62 mins
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Battle of Britain stamps for the Post Office
1965
1965
Wood engraved mural in Charing Cross underground station
1979
1979
Watercolour for My Town: An Artist’s Life in London, Particular Books
2020
2020