Description

Extended Data

Birth Place

Holstein , Germany

Biography

German artist, portraitist and professional photographer is likely the John Tensfeld aged 24 from Holstein,listing himself as a quartz miner in Maldon for his Australian naturalisation certificate of 14 October 1859. A relative Eggert Tensfeld, an engineer from Holstein was naturalised on 12 October. Tensfeld was working as a painter in Sandhurst, Castlemaine and Ballarat by 1863 and is listed by Sandy Barrie as an itinerant photographer in Daylesford and Seymour in 1862 and 1864. Tensfeld showed a painting Sunday Creek, near Seymour in the fourth Annual Exhibition of Fine Arts at Melbourne in 1864. It was described by the Argus critic as 'stiff and chalky’. Two paintings by Tensfeld, Lal Lal Falls and Terriers Catching Rats , were exhibited by Richard Geilhofer for sale at the 1863 Ballarat Mechanics Institute Exhibition. Tensfeld’s oil painting Main Street, Daylesford (1862, p.c.) appears to have been painted over or from, a photograph. Newspaper references in Ballarat 1863 report that Tensfeld painted over life size portrait photographs for Solomon and Bardwell studio and may have learned photography from them. From May 1864 to January 1865 Tensfeld was in partnership with scenic artist Moritz Freyberger at 92 Bourke Street, East Melbourne. Their dissolution notice in _The Age_18 Jan 1865,said Tensfeld was to pursue mining interests in Woods Point and Freyberger to work as a artist at the Theatre Royal. Tensfeld departed for New Zealand 31 May 1866 on the s.s. “Albambra” arriving Greymouth 4 July 1866 on the s.s. “Claud Hamilton. He took over the studio of Tait Brothers in Greymouth, South Island in July to August 1867. He worked as a photographer and painter in attracting attention as well for large painted portrait photographs and his views photographs including in February 1868 a commercial album of Westland views. Tensfeld had a studio in Princes street Dunedin in 1869-69 and offered a portfolio of twenty New Zealand views and an art union. He was active as a portraitist and scene painter as well as a photographer making and selling views and bound albums including two part panoramas. Tensfeld was working in Auckland in December 1869 in association with Bartlett Studio, specialising as before in paintings and portraits over a photographic base as well as views of the Thames goldfields. On 4 May 1870 Mr Tensfield boarded the s.s. “City of Melbourne” bound for Honolulu. By 1879 Tensfeld was established as a portraitist and painter in Brooklyn and the The Brooklyn _ Daily Eagle_ 14 August 1879, page 3 gives a description of a rather flamboyant character in girth, height and temperament who after studying art in Germany had lived in England, France, India, Australia, the Sandwich Islands, California, and in fact all parts of the world. He made a small fortune in Australia (not in art, of course), lost a good part of it in bringing a lot of cannibals to America, went back to his art in California’. Which indigenous performers that refers to is not determined. He married in Chicago in 1882 and died in St Louis 8 September 1893. This entry is a stub. You can help DAAO by submitting a biography. Writers: Staff Writer newtog Date written: 1992 Last updated: 2022

Born

b. c.1 January 1830

Summary

Painter and professional photographer, showed artworks in fourth Annual Exhibition of Fine Arts at Melbourne in 1864, and in the Ballarat Mechanics Institute Exhibition, and appears to have painted over a photograph in the painting 'Main Street, Daylesford.' Worked as a painter-photographer in New Zealand 1866-1870 and as a painter in the United States 1870-1880s.

Gender

Male

Died

8 September 1893

Age at death

63