Adolph Jentsch was of German descent, born in Dresden, Germany. Like many of his contemporaries, the cultured and unworldly Orientalist, Jentsch fled Germany when Hitler’s Third Reich turned to persecuting artists. He joined a cousin in Namibia in 1938 and stayed for the rest of his life. There he made a few lifelong friends, painted and traveled extensively, settling near Windhoek in 1947.
Anton Hendriks, in 1958 commented on the painter: “Jentsch is not a modern artist; his large and simple landscapes have the qualities of the simple landscapes. They are subtle, they do not shout, they are unobtrusive, they do not intrude, they are quiet and therefor, they do not readily reveal themselves to those who are attuned to modern noise”
In Namibia, Jentsch found the ideal working climate. His spirit responded to the vastness and silence of the desert landscape. The sublimity of space, which figures so dominantly in Eastern mysticism, was here a tangible reality, in the solitary desert landscape he felt free to meditate and to express his sense of the eternal
Adolph Jentsch is considered by those familiar with the scene to have distilled the very essence of the natural environment of South West Africa. Jentsch passed away in 1977 in Windhoek, SWA.
Artist CV
2012: The Small Works Exhibition at Everard Read CT, 28 June – 18 July
2011: 15th Anniversary Exhibition at Everard Read CT, 24 November – 24 December Group Exhibition ‘Fresh’ at Everard Read CT, 30 June – 18 July
2010: Group Exhibition ‘Baljaar’ at the Stellenbosch Woordfees, curated by Theo Kleinhans, in the PJ Olivier Art Centre, 1 – 6 March Group Exhibition ‘Slice’ at Rust-En-Vrede Gallery, 20 April – 13 May
2009: Took part in the Annual March Exhibition at Lindy van Niekerk
Took part in ‘POP’ Group Exhibition at Riebeeck Kasteel in September
2008: Solo Exhibition ‘The Demise of Innocence in Children’ at Rust-En-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville, 15 January – February Group Exhibition ‘Faces and Places‘ at Offthewall Contemporary, Paarl 5 – 30 March Group Exhibition ‘Postcards’ at Offthewall Contemporary 4 June – 3 August 2003 – 2004: Course in Graphic Design at AAA School of Advertising.
Awards
1913 Königlich-Sächsische Staatsmedaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft.
1958 Order of Merit, First Class, Federal Republic of West Germany.
1962 Medal of Honour for Painting, SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.
Exhibitions and Collections
SA National Gallery, Cape Town.
Johannesburg Art Gallery.
Pretoria Art Museum.
Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaf-Reinet.
William Humphreys Gallery, Kimberley.
Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation.
SA Association of Arts, Windhoek.
Administration of South West Africa.
University of Stellenbosch. Pretoria University.
Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg.
Five paintings were reproduced as stamps in South West Africa (now Namibia) in 1973
Publications
Adolph Jentsch. Die Bilder aus der Zigarrenkiste. 2003, by Peter Strack
Gallery Magazine, Autumn 1984, Adolph Jentsch — Prayers in Paint by Mark A. Meaker
Adolph Jentsch. 1973, by Olga Levinson
Lantern, Vol.3, No.4, April-June, 1954: ‘Adolph Jentsch’ by Otto Schroder
Lantern, Vol.7, No.1, October, 1957: ‘Vyf Kunstenaars uit Suidwes-Afrika’
Adolph Jentsch, SWA.: An appreciation with reproductions of watercolours painted by Jentsch in the surroundings of Brack. Essays by Otto Schroder and P. Anton Hendriks, Swakopmund, 1958 (70th anniversary)
Our Art, Vol.1: Essay by Otto Schroder, 1959
Fontein, Vol.1, No.1, 1960: ‘Adolph Jentsch’ by Anton Hendriks
Art in South Africa by F. L. Alexander, Cape Town, 1962
South West Africa Annual, 1970: ‘Jentsch’ by Olga Levinson
Art and artists of South Africa by Esme’ Berman, Cape Town, 1970
Film
Jentsch, documentary sound film, 16mm, commissioned by The Friends of the South African National Gallery, Cape Town. Written and produced by Olga Levinson; filmed by Lewis-Lewis Productions