Henry Hensche

Henry Hensche (February 25, 1899 – December 10, 1992) was an American painter and teacher.

Born Heinrich Hensche, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Henry came to the United States by way of Antwerp, Belgium. He is listed on the ship's manifest as age 11 years old when he arrived at Ellis Island aboard the British steamship S.S. Kroonland on March 3, 1909, with his sister Erna, and his father Fritz (later changed to Fred). (Hensche's birth year is often mentioned as 1898, 1899, or 1901, most likely 1898 - he did not make an effort to correct this. At times his city of birth is cited as Chicago, year of birth 1901 - again, Hensche made no effort to discourage that date or place of birth, perhaps due to anti-German sentiment during the World Wars). His mother is thought to have died before he was two, although this is not verified. She was either unable (deceased) or unwilling to travel to America with the family.

At the age of 17 Hensche began to work in the stockyards. He aspired to work with Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect who was active in Chicago, but several of Hensche's teachers encouraged him to apply to the Art Institute of Chicago. Hensche applied and, “I was surprised that they did take me...and that was my start in the paint ing world...[.]” Hensche studied the old masters and their techniques, but was drawn to the work of the Impressionists which were on exhibit. Several students at the Institute had previously studied with Charles Webster Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art. Hensche admired their techniques with color and decided to leave the Institute (which was not an easy decision) and travel to Provincetown, Massachusetts. By the spring of 1919 he had made it to the Art Students League in New York City and took classes with, among others, George Bellows.

By the summer of 1919, Hensche arrived in Provincetown. There he met Charles W. Hawthorne, who became his mentor. Hensche found in Hawthorne the “bright and savage colors” that he had first seen back at the Art Institute of Chicago. Hensche appreciated and embraced the Hawthorne “color note” approach to painting. He saw this as the advancement from Monet that it was. “Monet was a painter; he didn’t teach. What was needed was a way to put his principles into some kind of teachable form...in the America of that day, William Merritt Chase was the most famous teacher. He taught Hawthorne - and almost everyone else. But, he never really came to grips with the Impressionists idea. His paintings were really done in tone - in black and white - with Impressionists colors added. He never developed a clear method.”

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