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 naturalisation certificate of 14 October 1859. A relative Eggert Tensfeld,an engineer from Holstein was naturalised on 12 October. Tensfeld working as a painter in Sandhurst and Castlemaine and Ballarat by 1863 and is lsited by Sandy Barrie as an itinerant photographer in Daylesford and Seymour in 1862 and 1864. Tensfeld showed 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 portraits for Solomon and Bardwell studio and may have learned photography from them. From May 1864 to January 1865 he 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 in 1866 taking over the studio of Tait Brothers in Greymouth, South Island in 1866. He worked as a photographer and painter in attracting attention as well for large painted portrait photographs and his views photographs. Tensfeld departed for America in 1882 where he died.
This entry is a stub. You can help DAAO by submitting a biography.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2021
