A painter, lithographer, and muralist Claude Bentley was based primarily in Chicago, and was also a teacher at Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the North Shore Art League in Winnetka. In addition, he gave numerous lectures and demonstrations.

Bentley, born in New York City, studied at Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1941 to 1945, he was in North Africa with the armed forces and in France. An interest in pre-Columbian culture and the Indians of Mexico and the primitive arts of Africa took him many times to those places and had a strong influence on is painting style. He also became a collector of African, Oceanic, and pre-Columbian art.

The forms in his paintings reference geometric shapes and the simplicities of primitive art. As a muralist, he completed commissions for the Plaza del lago Shopping Center in Wilmette and 3600 Lake Shore Drive Building in Chicago.

In 1949, he became a member of the Chicago Society of Artists.

Source: Louise Dunn Yochim, "Role and Impact: The Chicago Society of Artists"

Painter who exh. a painting at the USO, Oct. 1942. “Bentley, born in New York City 45 years ago, lives with his attractive wife and five cats in a remodeled red brick house in Chicago’s Old Town area of the near north side. His handsome studio occupies the rear portion of the upstairs. It is neat, as artists’ studios go. There are assorted ladders for reaching upper portions of his paintings, a tall easel, plants, ceramic figures, and an abstract wood sculpture that extends from the floor almost to the skylight [done by a former student]… ‘I don’t paint out of protest,’ the artist said softly… ‘The purpose of my painting is to afford pleasure…,” per extensive article with port. and repro of his art, “Top Abstractionist Colorfully Defends his School. Claude Bentley Says Works Win Response,” Toledo Blade, July 9, 1961, Sect. 4, p. 4, “The World of Art”.