Adolf Obst (1869-1945) was a German landscape painter. At the age of fourteen, Obst began an apprenticeship at the Imperial Press in Berlin, where he gained experience in lithography and engraving. His artistic skills were noticed by his teachers who sent Obst to the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin where he excelled as a student. In 1897, Obst was awarded a grant from the Prussian Minister of Culture, which enabled him to embark on a two-year world tour with writer Paul Lindenberg. In 1900, he was appointed the war artist for a German expeditionary force to China where he spent two years painting images of the country. After returning to Berlin, Obst continued to paint landscapes and ran an art school. In 1914, Obst was reappointed a war artist and was assigned to paint studies of captured French prisoners of war of African descent. After the war Obst continued to paint scenes of Berlin and Potsdam up to the Second World War when his studios were destroyed by allied bombings. Obst visited Ceylon during his world tour in 1897.