Henric Trenk

{{Short description|Swiss-born Romanian painter and graphic artist}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Henric Trenk

| image = Henric Trenk - Oltul la Carlige.jpg

| image_size = 275px

| caption = The Olt River at Cârlige (1868)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1818

| birth_place = Zug, Switzerland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1892|07|05|1818}}

| death_place = Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania

| nationality = Swiss, Romanian

| known_for = painting, illustration

| training =

| movement = Romanticism

| notable_works =

| patrons = Alexandru Odobescu

| awards =

}}

Henric Trenk (also known as Henri or Heinrich Trenk; 1818–5 July 1892) was a Swiss-born Romanian painter and graphic artist, best known for his Romantic landscapes 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-ruled region of Transylvania around 1846,{{in lang|ro}} Alina Ciufu, [http://www.telegrafonline.ro/1166652000/articol/16814/creatie_a_plasticianului_henrik_trenk_in_patrimoniul_muzeului_de_arta.html "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 naturalized 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. Trenk traveled throughout the regions of Muntenia and Oltenia, creating a large number of oil paintings featuring rural scenes, historical relics, and natural scenes—including several depictions of the Olt River near the Cozia Monastery.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 scenes in the Wallachian Plain—fairs, inns, lodgings, as well as more exotic portrayals of Roma people and the distinctively-dressed Romanian postilions. 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 meanders of Cozia (known locally as Cârlige, "Hooks"), which was attributed by some to his nostalgia for the Alpine landscape. A similar feeling motivation was deduced from his earlier paintings, the Romantic picturesque landscapes showing the Southern Carpathian areas of Transylvania.

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, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2v4EAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Heinrich+Trenk%22&pg=RA1-PA120 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|{{ill|Lake Căldăruşani|ro|Lacul Căldărușani}}

File:Henri Trenk - Biserica Domneasca de la Curtea de Arges.jpg|{{ill|Royal Church in Curtea de Argeș|ro|Biserica Domnească din Curtea de Argeș}}

File:Tesaurul de la Petrosa.jpg|Pietroasele Treasure

Notes

References

Vasile Drăguț, {{ill|Vasile Florea (art critic)|ro|Vasile Florea|lt=Vasile Florea}}, {{ill|Dan Grigorescu|ro}}, Marin Mihalache, Pictura românească în imagini, Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1970. {{OCLC|5717220}}