Chris Gentle UK; Australia, b. 1939-

Chris Gentle studied painting, drawing, sculpture and lithography at the West Sussex College of Art and then Art Education at London University. He taught for two years in London and then in 1965, he travelled through Europe, the West Indies, United States and Canada before settling in Australia. He began teaching at the National Art School in 1969 and was appointed Senior Lecturer in Art at the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education in 1975. From 1977 to 1986, he was Founding Director of the Ivan Dougherty Gallery. He retired from the College of Fine Art, University of New South Wales, in 1994.

During the past five decades, Gentle has travelled widely in Australia, observing and analysing the landscape, its beauty and its fragility. His interest has been in the process of nature at work, decay and renewal, and the evidence of time passing. In his studio, the practice of drawing and exploring the nature of paint and colour give him the most pleasure. 

He has written numerous articles and essays on art and artists, among which are  'Contemporary German Drawings,' Art and Australia, November 1983; and 'Reflections and
Metaphor,' Art and Australia, March 1986. He was one of three authors of the monograph on Alun Leach-Jones published in 1988 by Craftsman House and reprinted in 1995.

Gentle has more than 40 exhibitions to his credit and various artist-in-residencies, including the Royal Botanic Gardens and Hill End. His work is held in many private and public collections in Australia, UK, America and Asia, including the Australian National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, State Galleries, Artbank, and the University of New South Wales and the University of Wollongong.