Valentin Henneman

Valentin Henneman (Oostkamp, July 7 1861 - Bangor, Me (U.S.A.), May 23 1930) was a Belgian figurative painter who emigrated to the United States of America.
==Life==
===Early life===
Valentin Henneman was born in Oostkamp (West Flanders) to a family of 10 children. He was a student at the Academy of Bruges in 1882-1883 and at the Academy of Antwerp in 1884-1886. He then went on to study at the Higher Institute in the same city, under the direction of Pieter-Jan van der Ouderaa, studying amongst classmates such as Vincent van Gogh. After his studies, he painted many portraits of notables in Bruges and its surroundings. He also painted landscapes. He established his atelier behind the inn run by his parents in Assebroek. In 1893 the municipality of Oostkamp bought the painting 'Taught by his grandchild'.
In 1897 he participated in the annual pilgrimage of the Catholic Worker Movement in Italy. 
====Inventions====
In 1898, some of Valentin's brothers started a large laurel plant "Horticulture Henneman" in Bruges. To wet the plants for transport, he invented a machine. Henneman also invented an eccentric suction pump, for which he received a mention at the Antwerp International Exposition. The invention was touted as, "Patented suction and pressure pump, the most durable, powerful rotary pump known." In 1893, Joural de Bruges reported that Henneman had obtained a certificate, from the city of Bruges, for the design of a new, more efficient horsecar.
===1900-1943===
In 1904 Valentin left for the United States where, among other things, he painted portraits of a businessman and attended the World's Fair in St. Louis. He stayed and worked near Fitchburg on the East Coast, where, among other things, he co-founded the Commonwealth Art Colony at Boothbay Harbour with Asa R. Randall.Drawn To Boothbay: Art Colonies Of The Early 1900s He traveled between Bruges and the United States just about every year.
After his marriage on Dec. 31, 1917, to Mabel Dealing, he settled permanently in Bangor.
Henneman built a painting career there as a painter of portraits, cityscapes, landscapes and moody neighborhood harbor scenes, such as Boothbay Harbor, for example. Starting in 1923, he worked with snow or ice - creating snow sculptures of American presidents, artists and other celebrities as well as animals. He exhibited these in his garden which earned him the name the Snow Sculptor.
He also had teaching assignments there at the Bangor Society of Art and exhibited at Bangor Public Library among other places.
He participated in various exhibitions at home and abroad, including the 1908 exhibition "Bruges. Ses Peintres" with the painting "Ghent Gate. Winter Evening."
Henneman was also an etcher and sculptor.
Some of his paintings and a bust of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin are in Bangor Public Library.
===His death===
On May 23, 1943, a few months after his most successful exhibition, Henneman committed suicide by hanging. He had declining eyesight and felt he could no longer practice his art. The reasons for his death were speculated in local newspapers. On May 24, newspaper The Berkshire Eagle reported "He had been in ill health for some weeks."
==Literature==
* Bruges. Ses Peintres (exhibition catalog), Bruges, 1908.
* De Laere R., Valentin Henneman, portrait painter (1861-1930), Heemkundige Bijdragen voor Brugge en Ommeland no. 2, 1992
* De Laere R., Valentin Henneman (1861-1930), Heemkundige Bijdragen voor Brugge en Ommeland nos. 3 & 4, 1992
* De Laere R., Valentin Henneman (1861-1930), Heemkundige Bijdragen voor Brugge en Ommeland no. 1, 1998
* Lexicon of West Flemish visual artists, Volume 6, Bruges, 1997.
* P.H. FALK, Who was Who in American Art 1564-1975, 3 dln., Madison, 1999.
* Vanden Berghe Patrick, Valentin Henneman 1861-1930, artist between Bruges and Bangor (USA), Heemkundige Kring Oostkamp, 2021.
* Patrick Vanden Berghe, Valentin Henneman, artist between Bruges and Bangor (U.S.), in: Bruges die Scone, 2023.
Category:1861 births
Category:People from Oostkamp
Category:University of Antwerp alumni
Category:Belgian people