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Current Exhibitions Future Exhibitions Back to Exhibitions )
A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). J. W. Lillard Home, Decatur, Texas, 1980. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 30 inches. Collection of Dr. Steve and June Hillis, Tyler
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A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). 1929 Snow Scene at Smith County Courthouse, 1999. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 32 inches. Collection of Southside Bank, Tyler
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A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). Boyd's Old Place on Big Eddy Road, Chandler, 2000. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 32 inches. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. B. G. Hartley, Tyler
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A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). Pheasants and Barn near Greenfield, Kansas, 2002. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 32 inches. Collection of A.C. (Augustus Calahan) Gentry, Jr.
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A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). Homeplace of Billy E. Hibbs, Wood County, Texas, 2003. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 32 inches. Collection of Heartland Security Insurance Group, Tyler
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A.C. Gentry (American, b. 1927). Ole' Digger, 1999. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 32 inches. Collection of A.C. (Augustus Calahan) Gentry, Jr.
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The Past Is Present: Watercolors by A.C. Gentry November 17, 2006–January 14, 2007 
Gallery installation for The Past Is Present: Watercolors by A.C. Gentry
Tyler Museum of Art is pleased to present an exhibition of one of Tyler's best-known local artists – a man whose work is collected by many people in this region and elsewhere. A.C. Gentry established himself as a watercolorist with his renderings of nostalgic weathered buildings and scenes of East Texas from a bygone era. It is primarily his rural scenes that have made him a favorite East Texas artist.
Most of the places in East Texas depicted in Gentry's paintings have now disappeared. The rural roads that he traveled as a youngster and later as an artist have changed. The rustic general stores, comfortable farm houses and dignified homes are often no longer standing. Yet, his sketches and paintings record what resonates within us and preserves our memories as if they were before our eyes. He can tell you where they are – or where they were – when he made them a part of his life's work. And the past comes rushing back to us poignantly and real in the present.
In structuring his watercolors, Gentry usually prefers a subdued palette consisting mostly of autumn colors. "Autumn colors are my favorites. There is too much green in the world," he says. A large field of warm-toned weeds and unpaved roads usually offsets the cool grays of wooden and metal buildings. Longitudinal shadows may be used to anchor the vertical thrust of the building forms and to keep the roadway horizontal as it moves into the distance. A small, very cool, colored sky often highlights the rust-colored roofs and tree shapes that form a backdrop for the main subject of the painting, often a building. He uses large washes of carefully controlled values to maintain the structure of each painting.
The scenes in Gentry's paintings are not confined to East Texas. He is also known for landscapes and water scenes that incorporate birds or hunting activities. In addition, we find him deeply involved with scenes he has encountered in his trips of discovery to England. There he finds a preserved antiquity in buildings made of brick and stone that is lacking in his native East Texas, where clapboards are torn down to make room for the new. Gentry is an artist who takes us back into the past to see it in the present, the time in which we are ever pursuing the new.
A.C. Gentry was born in Tyler in 1927. He received his BFA from The University of Texas at Austin and has taught at Hogg Middle School, Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Austin and Tyler. His works are included in multiple private collections.
The Past Is Present: Watercolors by A.C. Gentry is organized by the Tyler Museum of Art. Corporate Member Sponsor for this exhibition is Hibbs-Hallmark & Company.
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