What he called his "dance on canvas" featured maniacal, mesmerizing movement, but he regarded the sermons he shouted over the music while he painted as his main mission.
He said he turned down mention in Guinness World Records as the world's fastest artist because he feared the distinction might detract from his inspirational message about the saving graces of art.
With three brushes in each hand, Denny painted portraits on six-foot canvasses in the time it takes to play a few carefully selected pieces of music.
A painting that Dent did of Albert Einstein hangs in the Lecture Halls building at the St. Louis Community College-Meramec campus.
Dent could also paint with his feet, but seldom did so in public.