Sava Henția | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 21 February 1904 | (aged 56)
Nationality | Romanian |
Education | Theodor Aman, Gheorghe Tattarescu, Alexander Cabanel |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Painting, illustration, mural |
Movement | Realism |
Sava Henția (1 February 1848, Sebeșel - 21 February 1904, Sebeșel) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian painter, decorator and illustrator.
He was one of fourteen surviving children of a priest. In 1862, after finishing his primary education, he was apprenticed to an uncle, who taught him how to retouch photographs. [1] The following year, he caught typhoid fever and the quinine that was used to treat it damaged his hearing. [2]
His work with photographs encouraged him to pursue a career in art. From 1865 to 1870, he studied at the Bucharest National University of Arts with Gheorghe Tattarescu and Theodor Aman. [1] He was then able to obtain a scholarship and went to Paris, where he enrolled at the Académie des Beaux-Arts and found a position in the prestigious workshop of Alexandre Cabanel. In 1873, he returned to Bucharest and became a teacher of drawing and calligraphy at the "Elena Doamna" orphan asylum. [1]
Four years later, on the recommendation of Doctor Carol Davila, he became a correspondent with the Army ambulance corps and participated in the Russo-Turkish War (War of Independence), sketching numerous scenes of campaigns and battles, many of which he later made into watercolors. [2] His painting of an artillery battery from Calafat was used on a one Leu postage stamp in 1977. [3]
After the war, he worked as a teacher, interior decorator and book illustrator. [1] Between 1901 and 1902, he was one of the artists commissioned to restore the murals and altarpieces at the Brebu Monastery. At the Cernica Monastery , he produced portraits of that institution's founders.
His home in Sebeș became an historical monument. It was not properly maintained, however, and the roof collapsed in 2001.[ citation needed] After further deterioration, all that remained was the front wall and foundation. It was later taken off the list of historical monuments. A street in Bucharest is named after him.