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Tinus De Jongh (1885-1942)
Tinus (Marthinus Johannes) de Jongh (South African 1885-1942) MEIRINGSPOORT signed, a plaque adhered to the front of the frame bares the artist's name and the title oil on canvas 67 by 100cm
Tinus de Jongh was a self-taught artist who began his career as a decorator in Amsterdam, only later pursuing a career as an artist, much to the dismay of his parents. After achieving local recognition for his work in Amsterdam, he came to South Africa in 1921, where he would, like the artists before him, fall in love with the
South African landscape.
Esmé Berman, the highly respected and critically acclaimed art historian, notes that “De Jongh’s pictures amply answer the requirements of the broader buying public: they are sumptuous in scale, local in content, descriptive in character, traditional in style and bright in colour.”
“When de Jongh first came to South Africa, he brought with him a sober Amsterdam approach, his scenes were warm and intimate, his palette subdued. His detailed brushwork was rich in impasto highlights and characteristically Dutch in manner. Like most European newcomers to South Africa, he was impressed by the rugged scenery of the Cape and proceeded to apply himself to portrayal of the gabled farm-houses, the verdant valleys and the sunset-tinted mountain peaks. Like so many artists from the duller northern climes he was also lured by brilliant sunlight into rejecting his customary subtle tones and substituting shrill oranges and pinks and purples.”
- Berman, E., Art and Artists of South Africa, A. A. Balkema, Cape Town, 1974, p 76 & 77
Jongh, M.J. de (1885-1942). (Beurspoortje, Amsterdam). Etching, 24x18 cm., signed Tinus de Jongh in pencil, mounted under passepartout (browned). Dingemans, W.J. (1873-1925). (Amsterdam streetscene with a horse-drawn cart). Etching, 15,4x23,4 cm.,