‘Reggie’ Dent was born in Newport, Monmouthshire (now Gwent) in 1909. He joined the Royal College of Art in 1931, where he studied the techniques of printmaking under Malcolm Osborne and R.S. Austin. A naturally talented etcher and engraver from the outset, he was the runner-up for the prestigious Prix-de-Rome for engraving in 1935. Reginald Dent exhibited his prints regularly at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, becoming a member of the latter. However, due to the depression in the print market at this time, it was clear that he could not earn a living from printmaking alone. Reginald Dent moved permanently to Gloucestershire in 1935, when offered a teaching post in the art school at Cheltenham.
It was Reginald Dent’s practice to draw directly onto the copperplate and the true to life spontaneity which resulted from this practice is clearly apparent in throughout his printed works. Almost all of Reginald Dent’s etched works were made between the years 1933 and 1940, although he continued to etch sporadically until 1950. |
