Henric Trenk (also known as Henri or Heinrich Trenk; 1818–5 July 1892) was a Switzerland-born painter and graphic artist, best known for his Romanticism Landscape art and his association with writer and amateur archaeologist Alexandru Odobescu.
Biography
Born to an
ethnic German family in
Zug, Trenk studied at the
Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, in the Kingdom of Prussia's
Rhine Province.
[Drăguț et al., p.138] He first arrived in the
Austrian Empire-ruled region of
Transylvania around 1846,
[ Alina Ciufu, "Creație a plasticianului Henrik Trenk, în patrimoniul Muzeului de Artă", in Telegraf - Constanța, December 21, 2006; retrieved July 22, 2007] and moved to
Wallachia in 1851.
He remained in Wallachia as it became a constituent part of the Romanian Kingdom, and never again left its territory.
Later in life, Trenk was
Naturalization a Romanian.
[ Bulletin Scientifique. Savjet akademija nauka i umjetnosti SFRJ, 1991, p.2]
He came to associate with Odobescu, and was appointed by the latter official illustrator of the magazines printed by the Romanian Commission of Historical Monuments.[Drăguț et al., p.138-139] For a while, he taught drawing at a Bucharest gymnasium, and had the major Romanian painter Ion Andreescu among his students.
Work
With support from Odobescu, who was attempting to build a record of historical locations and
folklore, Henric Trenk documented places of interest, as well as
Genre works scenes in the
Wallachian Plain—
, inns, lodgings, as well as more exotic portrayals of Roma people and the distinctively-dressed Romanian
.
While admired for their exactitude (unprecedented in Romanian art),
[Drăguţ et al., p.139] these works have drawn criticism for their impersonality.
Among his most distinctive works is a mountainous landscape of the Olt at the of Cozia (known locally as Cârlige, "Hooks"), which was attributed by some to his nostalgia for the Swiss Alps landscape.
Trenk was also active in research towards improving the paint used in fine arts, publishing in several chemistry journals. His aim was to find a paint which would be durable, but also matte, avoiding distracting reflections on the painting's surface. His successful invention of such a paint was announced in a February 1869 note by Carol Szathmari, court painter of Domnitor Carol I of Romania.[ Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, Volume 4, Ed. E.A. Seemann, 1869, p.120]
Gallery
Click on an image to view it enlarged.
File:Henric Trenk - Biserica evanghelica din Sibiu.jpg| Evangelical Church in Sibiu
File:Henric Trenk - Intrare in Cheile Turzii.jpg| The Entrance to Cheile Turzii
File:Henric Trenk - Julius Sigerus, copil.jpg| Julius Sigerus as a Child, Brukenthal National Museum
File:Henric Trenk - Peisaj de munte01.jpg| Mountainous Landscape
File:Henry Trenk - Biserica Stavropoleos.jpg| Stavropoleos Church
File:Henric Trenk - Lacul Caldarusani.jpg|
File:Henri Trenk - Biserica Domneasca de la Curtea de Arges.jpg|
File:Tesaurul de la Petrosa.jpg| Pietroasele Treasure
Notes
-
Vasile Drăguț, , , Marin Mihalache, Pictura românească în imagini, Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1970.
External links
