Jan Senbergs (; 1939–2024) is an Australian artist and printmaker of Latvian origin.

Life and work

Senbergs was born in 1939 in Latvia. World War II forced Senbergs and his family out of Latvia to Germany and eventually to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1950. As a young adult, Senbergs was educated at Richmond Technical School, where he learnt technical and free drawing, going on to become a

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" ...

printer once he left school at 15. The skills he learnt as an apprentice were defining in the beginning of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, when he became, arguably, one of the best silkscreen printmakers in Australia. Senbergs moved on from screen printing to the industrial cityscapes and ports of Melbourne, the mined landscapes of Tasmania and the Antarctic wilderness. Spanning his 50-plus year career he has covered figuration, surrealism, expressionism and abstraction in his prints, paintings and drawings. Senbergs has had many career highlights, including receiving the Helena Rubinstein Travelling Scholarship in 1966, representing Australia at the

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

in Brazil in 1973 and being commissioned for a large-scale mural for the High Court of Australia, Canberra in 1980. He has had various important roles in his career including member of the Visual Arts Board of the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

from 1984 to 1987, Trustee of the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

from 1984 to 1989 and in 1989 he was appointed the Visiting Professor – Chair of Australian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Boston. Senbergs died in February 2024.

Exhibitions

Senbergs started exhibiting in the early 1960s in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, at Argus Gallery, and in Sydney, at Rudy Komon Gallery, and has continued to exhibit regularly across Australia, as well as internationally. He has held over 45 solo shows and participated in nearly 70 group shows throughout his 50 plus year career. Senbergs has had many survey exhibitions, including ''Imagined Sites – Imagined Realities'' at the

Heide Museum of Modern Art The Heide Museum of Modern Art, also known as Heide, is an art museum in Bulleen, Victoria, Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum exhibits modern art, modern and contemporary a ...

in 1993, ''Jan Senbergs Drawing'' at Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in 2006, which went on to tour regional Australia in 2007, and ''Jan Senbergs: From Screenprinter to Painter'' at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

in 2008. Senbergs has also exhibited considerably overseas, starting early on in his career with ''Young Australian Painters'' in 1965 in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and continuing with ''Australian Prints Today'' at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Washington DC in 1966 and ''Australian Prints'' at the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London in 1972. Early in his career Senbergs was included in various Biennials, such as the ''International Biennale of Graphic Art'' in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in 1966, the ''Bradford Print Biennale'', in Bradford, United Kingdom and the ''International Print Biennale'', in

both in 1968. Most notably he was chosen to represent Australia at the São Paulo Biennial in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1973. He held a solo show at the Australian Print Workshop in Melbourne and featured in the ''Blue Chip XV: The Collectors’ Exhibition'' at Niagara Galleries and ''Mixtape 1980s: Appropriation, Subculture, Critical Style'' at the

in 2013. In 2016, he was exhibited in ''Jan Senbergs: Observation - Imagination'' at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Collections

Senbergs' work is featured in prominent galleries and museums across Australia as well as overseas. He is featured in major state galleries such as

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

and

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

. Internationally, Senbergs is included in the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, the Museum of Fine Arts,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York, the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

and Washington DC, as well as numerous regional, university, college, corporate and private collections throughout Australia and the US.

Awards

Senbergs has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including the Dobell Prize from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1995 and th
Kedumba Drawing Prize
in 1991. He received an Honorary Award in the Doctor of Arts Honoris Causa from the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

in Melbourne and was the recipient of th
Helena Rubenstein Travelling Art Scholarship
in 1966. In 2003 he was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in recognition of his "service to the Australian visual arts as a painter whose work has been exhibited in, and forms part of, national and international galleries and collections".

References

External links

Images of Senbergs' prints held by the National Gallery of Australia

Images of Senbergs' prints held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Transcript of Interview by James Gleeson with Senbergs April, 1979, National Gallery of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senbergs, Jan 1939 births 2024 deaths Australian printmakers Australian art Latvian emigrants to Australia Latvian World War II refugees Australian painters Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian artists