he exhibited his first painting at the national academy of design in new york city in 1850. the following year he apprenticed with frederic edwin church, who was then regarded as a rising star in the american art world. church and mcentee remained lifelong friends, though mcentee never approached church's fame and fortune. after studying with church, mcentee attempted a career as a businessman in rondout, but did not experience much success. after three years he gave up business and devoted himself wholly to his art, becoming one of the charter residents of richard morris hunt's tenth street studio building in 1857. since many of the building's other occupants were bachelors or commuters, mcentee and his wife (who was known as a lively, sympathetic hostess) became the center of a spontaneous salon frequented by some of the best-known artists, writers, and actors of the era. after his wife died in 1878, mcentee stayed on at the building, an increasingly lonely widower, until his death in 1891.