Phil Prentice was born in 1930 in Muncie Indiana. At the age of 12 he received a scholarship at the Dayton Art Institute to study under Cartoonist Al Capp and Milton Caniff. He went on to study in 1950 at the Pratt Art Institute, Brooklyn, New York. After a three year tour of duty in the Air Force he then studied at the Art Center School, Los Angeles. His decision that drafting was not going to be his career, led to his decision in 1966 to move into fine arts. Prentice was invited to show at the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, California. He became well known throughout the animal art world for his outstanding detailed oils of animals indigenous to Africa. The U.S. Information Agency named Prentice one of the leading wildlife artists in the United States. In 1972 the Donald Art Company began reproducing Mr. Prentice’s wildlife paintings. In 1974 Mr. Prentice had a one man exhibition at the Columbus Ohio Gallery of Fine Art, and was the fourth internationally known wildlife artist to be exhibited in that Museum. (Article appeared in Columbus Dispatch, November 3, 1974) In 1977 he was one of the top ten American Wildlife artists invited to the First World Wildlife Congress held in Johannesburg, South Africa. His paintings are reproduced around the world, notably Japan, England and the United States. In 1978 Mr. Prentice became a charter member of the Wildlife Artists International. He exhibited his art at both the First (1978) and Second (1979) Annual Convention of the Wildlife Artists International held in Scottsdale, Arizona. Southwest Art published (September 1979) an article about Mr. Prentice that displayed several of his early works.
About
Phil Prentice
Animals and wildlife were not his only art interests. Mr. Prentice always enjoyed the outdoors, and he made many Southwest landscapes in both oil and acrylic. He also had interest American native cultures. Inspired by a photograph given to him by Senator Barry Goldwater, Mr. Prentice created his Navaho man. This stunning portrait painting was reproduced as a limited edition print and the entire edition was sold. He also had interest in the performing arts. Ballet figures in motion were particularly interesting to him. He did several small acrylics of dancers in various ballet poses.
As he aged, his interests were directed to the human male figure. You can see in the Mixed Art Gallery his first attempts at capturing the human figure. The Swimmer, the Runner are examples of this transition. As he developed this new interest, in his mind, he wanted to show the human figure in motion with wings. His emphases was to show the flow and movement of the wing as it related to the human figure. His gentle brush stroke, and fantastic realism, that was evident in many of his wildlife paintings are evident in his interpretation of the wing. The drama and movement become evident as you view these dramatic depictions in the Human Winged Figure Gallery.
Today, Phil Prentice at age 90, has ceased his art career. He no longer paints, but directs his interests to living a wonderful retired life in South Florida. Mr. Prentice surrounds himself with friends, remains active in the gay culture of South Florida. He is actively trying to sell his remaining collection of original oil and acrylic paintings. Occasionally individuals will see some of Mr. Prentice’s art on Ebay or Craig’s list but these are normally prints of his original paintings. Many collectors and galleries have his originals. All of his remaining original artwork can be seen on this web site, and is for sale. Prices shown are negotiable. Mr. Prentice will personally authenticate any piece of art that he sells. Any questions or inquiries about any of his remaining original art can be directed to Mr. Prentice through this web site.