Tina Wentcher b. 1887 Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

Also known as:
  • Ernestine Haim
  • Tina Haim-Wentscher
  • Ernestine Wentcher
  • Ernestine Wentscher
  • Tina Haim-Wentcher
  • Artist (Sculptor)
Sculptor and carver. Trained in Paris and Berlin and well travelled through Greece, Italy, Egypt, Abyssinia, and S.E. Asia before settling in Victoria following the outbreak of WWII. Produced portrait busts and figure designs.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1995
Name
Tina Wentcher
Also known as:
  • Ernestine Haim
  • Tina Haim-Wentscher
  • Ernestine Wentcher
  • Ernestine Wentscher
  • Tina Haim-Wentcher
Birth date
1887
Birth place
Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey
Death date
April 1974
Death place
Armadale, Melbourne, Vic, Armadale?, Melbourne, Vic
Death note
some records indicate Armidale, NSW
Gender
Female
Roles
  • Artist (Sculptor)
Residence
  • 1914- 1931 Egypt
  • 1914- 1931 Italy
  • 1914- 1931 Greece
  • 1914- 1931 Berlin, Germany
  • c.1912- c.1914 Paris, France
  • 1940- 1974 Victoria
  • 1931- 1940 South East Asia
Arrival
  • 1940 (Deported and interned until 1943.)
Active Period
  • 1931- 1940
  • c.1918-
Cultural Heritage
  • Italian
  • Yugoslavian
Languages
  • English
Training
  • c.1912- c.1914 Académie Julian, Paris, France
  • Woman's Art School, Berlin, Germany
Is Indigenous
No
Initial Record Data Source
  • Heritage: The National Women's Art Book

sculptor and carver, was born Ernestine Haim in Constantinople (Istanbul) in December 1887, daughter of a Yugoslavian father and an Italian mother. The family lived first in Vienna, then in Berlin where Tina attended the Woman’s Art School, women not then being permitted to enrol at the Berlin Academy. Her carved limestone bust of her sister was hung in a Berlin Secessionist exhibition (c.1905). She later spent about three years studying at the Académie Julian, Paris (c.1912-14).

Forced to return home at the outbreak of World War I, Tina worked as a portraitist and made reproductions for the Berlin Academy of some of the treasures unearthed in the Tel Amarna excavations, including a copy of the head of Nefertiti which was on display for years at the Bode Museum while the original was kept in the vaults. In about 1915 she married a Prussian academic painter, Julius Wentscher (spelt 'Wentcher’ in Australia) but continued to exhibit as Haim. After the war, the couple travelled to Greece, Italy, Egypt and Abyssinia. In Greece she met painters and poets bent on reviving Greek folk culture and made two miniature bronze copies of the Delphic Charioteer.

In 1931 the Wentchers won a cruise to South East Asia at a Press Ball and left Germany for an intended six months visit. The holiday was extended as the political situation in Germany worsened. They spent three years in Bali and Java, then visited China, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia, remaining at the last for five years. Tina (as Haim-Wentscher) received numerous commissions for portrait busts and held several exhibitions in Malaysia. She also worked in 'the native beeswax … to produce portraits and figure designs of tremendous delicacy and intensity’, O’Connor notes. Virtually all were lost during World War II, apart from some small pieces brought to Australia. Peers considers these 'late reflection of the Jugendstil ' to be her best work. With her husband, she also produced large dioramas of life on Malaysian plantations for the government to exhibit at the 1937 Glasgow Empire Exhibition and the 1939 San Francisco World Fair.

In 1940, following the outbreak of war, the Wentchers were deported to Australia and interned until 1943. On their release they set up professionally in Melbourne, holding a joint exhibition at the Kozminsky Galleries. Tina joined the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. Her Bessarabian Boy , a small bronze head acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria, was stolen in 1945 so she made a pewter replica at her own expense in 1946. That year, she and Julius were naturalised.

Tina Wentcher’s first solo exhibition was held in 1951 at Georges Gallery, Melbourne. She exhibited with the Contemporary Art Society, the Victorian Artists’ Society, the Society of Artists (NSW) and elsewhere. A joint exhibition with her husband was held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1974. After she died the Association of Sculptors of Victoria set up an annual prize in her memory. The Queen Victoria Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, own commissioned works. The McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin holds numerous small sculptures, including several executed in South-East Asia.

Writers:
Kerr, Joan Note: Heritage biography.
Date written:
1995
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Ailsa O'Connor
1921
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Sculptor), Artist (Painter)
spouse of
Julius Wentscher
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Annis Laeubli
1912
Artist (Sculptor)
associate of
Contemporary Art Society
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
NSW Society of Artists
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Victorian Artists' Society
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Association of Sculptors of Victoria
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Delphic Charioteer
Two miniature bronze copies of the Delphic Charioteer.
Bessarabian Boy
Date
1944
A small bronze head acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria, was stolen in 1945 so she made a pewter replica at her own expense in 1946.
Collections
NSW Society of Artists
None
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Sydney, NSW
Victorian Artists' Society
None
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Melbourne, Vic
Contemporary Art Society
None
Exhibition (exhibited at)
None
[Joint exhibition with Wentcher, Julius (husband)]
1974
Exhibition (exhibited at)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic.
[Solo exhibition]
1951
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Georges Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
1943
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Kozminsky Galleries, Melbourne, Vic.
San Francisco World Fair
1939
Exhibition (exhibited at)
San Francisco, CA, USA
Large dioramas of life on Malaysian plantations.
Glasgow Empire Exhibition
1937
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Large dioramas of life on Malaysian plantations.
Berlin Secessionist exhibition
1905
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Berlin, Germany
Carved limestone bust of her sister.
Citations:
  • (May 1974), Sculptor dies, (Place: Sydney, NSW : Antiques and Art Australasia, IV/9, p 12)
  • Peers, Juliet, (2002), Wentcher, Tina (1887 - 1974), (Place: Melbourne, Vic : Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16 [Ritchie, J. (ed.)], Melbourne University Press)
  • Jacobsen, Greg, (1976), Tina and Julius Wentcher, (Place: Melbourne, Vic.)
  • (1982), 'Tina Wentcher' in Unfinished Work, (Place: Richmond, Vic.)
  • (1987), Tina Wentcher 1887-1974: A Centennial Exhibition, (Place: Langwarrin, Vic : McClelland Gallery catalogue)
  • Scarlett, Ken, (1980), Australian Sculptors, (Place: West Melbourne, Vic.)
  • Peers, Juliet, (1993), More Than Just Gumtrees, (Place: Melbourne, Vic.)
  • Parr, Lenton, (May 1963), Australian sculptors since 1945, (Place: Art and Australia)
  • O'Connor, Ailsa, (c.1978), Tina Wentcher, (Place: Melbourne, Vic : in Ely, Bonita; & Havena, Anna 'Profile of Australian Women Sculptors 1860-1960', Women's Art Register project, typescript, n.d.)
See also:
  • PORTRAIT: Portrait of Tina 1973, pencil drawing by Ailsa O'Connor (p.c.).
  • Section 2, plate 67