Together, 1990
Herbert Gentry was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1919 and grew up in New York City during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. After serving in World War II, Gentry moved to Paris to study and teach art. There he worked alongside artists from around the world and associated and brushed shoulders with such notable artists and writers as Alberto Giacometti, Wifredo Lam, George Braque, Richard Wright, and James Baldwin. In 1959, Gentry relocated to Copenhagen and spent the next few years exhibiting in Northern Europe, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Netherlands. Gentry went on to establish studios in Stockholm, Paris, and Malmö, Sweden before moving into the Chelsea Hotel in New York City.
While in New York Gentry reestablished friendships with many African American artists including Romare Bearden, Bill Hutson, and Robert Blackburn. He continued to show and work in the U.S. and in Europe, moving back and forth between his studios until his passing in 2003. Gentry’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Amistad Center for Art and Culture, the Brooklyn Museum, and in numerous galleries and museums in Europe and beyond.
While in New York Gentry reestablished friendships with many African American artists including Romare Bearden, Bill Hutson, and Robert Blackburn. He continued to show and work in the U.S. and in Europe, moving back and forth between his studios until his passing in 2003. Gentry’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Amistad Center for Art and Culture, the Brooklyn Museum, and in numerous galleries and museums in Europe and beyond.