Cooper Hewitt says...
Thomas Gentille is an American jewelry designer born in Mansfield, OH. Gentille studied painting and sculpture at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1954-1958 and his designs reflect this early training. Often architectonic, with acute attention to texture and color sensibilities, Gentille’s jewelry is distinguished by its simultaneous embrace of precious and humble materials. He is considered one of the first American studio jewelry artists to embrace commonplace materials in his designs. Many of his jewelry pieces are brooches and feature unusual material juxtapositions such as painted cork, pumice, gold, and eggshell inlay.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Die Neue Sammlung (The Design Museum, Munich) among other institutions, have acquired his jewelry and design drawings. In 2016, he was the first American art jeweler to be honored with a one-man exhibition at the Die Neue Sammlung. Gentille has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Herbert Hofmann Prize in 2000 and First Prize in the Ornament International Jewelry Exhibition in 1984. He has taught at Parsons School of Design and has served as the Director of the Jewelry Department of the 92nd Street Y in New York. Gentille is also the author of the 1968 book Step-By-Step Jewelry: A Complete Introduction to the Craft of Jewelry.
