Henric Trenk

Infobox Artist
bgcolour =
name = Henric Trenk


imagesize = 230px
caption = "The Olt at Cârlige" (1868)
birthname =
birthdate = 1818
location = Zug
deathdate = 1892
deathplace =
nationality = Swiss, Romanian
field = painting, illustration
training =
movement = Romanticism
works =
patrons = Alexandru Odobescu
influenced by =
influenced = Ion Andreescu
awards =

Henric Trenk (Romanian-language version of Heinrich Trenk; 1818-1892) 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. [Drăguţ "et al.", p.138] He first arrived in the Austrian-ruled region of Transylvania around 1846, [Ciufu; Drăguţ "et al.", p.138] and moved to Wallachia in 1851. [Ciufu] He remained in Wallachia as it became a constituent part of the Romanian Kingdom, and never again left its territory. [Drăguţ "et al.", p.138] Later in life, Trank 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. [Ciufu] 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. [Drăguţ "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. [Ciufu]

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. [Ciufu; Drăguţ "et al.", p.138-139] While admired for their exactitude (unprecedented in Romanian art), [Ciufu; Drăguţ "et al.", p.139] these works have drawn criticism for their impersonality. [Drăguţ "et al.", p.139]

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. [Drăguţ "et al.", p.139] A similar feeling motivation was deduced from his earlier paintings, the Romantic picturesque landscapes showing the Southern Carpathian areas of Transylvania. [Ciufu]

Gallery

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Notes

References

*ro icon Alina Ciufu, [http://www.telegrafonline.ro/1166652000/articol/16814/creatie_a_plasticianului_henrik_trenk_in_patrimoniul_muzeului_de_arta.html "Creaţie a plasticianului Henrik Trenk, în patrimoniul Muzeului de Artă"] , in "Telegraf - Constanţa", December 21, 2006; retrieved July 22, 2007
*Vasile Drăguţ, Vasile Florea, Dan Grigorescu, Marin Mihalache, "Pictura românească în imagini", Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1970. OCLC|5717220