Scott Gentling

Early life

Scott Gentling was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, at the age of five with his family. His mother, Barbara Johnson, was a trained social worker and his father, Dr. Allen Gentling worked as the Head of Anesthesiology at Harris Methodist Hospital. The twins grew up with an older brother, Peter, and younger sister, Suzanne. After Scott's death, Suzanne was crucially involved in preserving the twins’ works and documents.

Passionate and well-read about a wide range of subjects, both twins were considered “boy geniuses”. Scott painted 18th century costumes, musical instruments, Mesoamerican pottery, and more.

Gentling continued to pursue sculpture and model making through his fascination for Aztec history and culture; he combined his skills and scholarly research to produce drawings and models of cities and temples, which, as artistic interpretations, have been displayed at museums across the country, including the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Denver Museum of Natural History, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and The Old Jail Art Center.

Personal life Neither twin strived for national-level acclaim; they mostly directed their attention to their local patrons. Though Scott was invited to join a gallery in New York in the early 1970s, he declined the offer as he did not care much for the dominating New York art scene and preferred to work in Texas.

Scott lived a fairly ascetic life, engrossed in his artwork until his death. He left the responsibility of promoting artwork and managing their business to Stuart. He became more of a recluse after Stuart's death in 2006. Scott died a few weeks after suffering from a series of strokes shortly after his 69th birthday.