Adolph Jentsch

Adolph Stephan Friedrich Jentsch was a German-born Namibian artist, born in Dresden in 1888, and died in Windhoek, Namibia (formerly South West Africa) in 1977. He studied at the Dresden Staatsakademie für Bildende Kunste (Dresden Art Academy, today's College of Fine Arts) for six years, and used a travel grant award to visit France, Italy, UK and the Netherlands. Jentsch moved to Namibia in 1938 to escape the approaching war and lived there until his death. He travelled extensively in Namibia and eventually settled down near Dordabis, about 60 km from the capital Windhoek.
Jentsch painted landscapes and worked in watercolour and oil. He was interested in Oriental philosophy and was influenced by Chinese Art.

• 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.

• S.A 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.
• S.A 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

• 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

• 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.