August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck

August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck was a painter who was born in Glückstadt in Holstein, now in Germany but then in Denmark. He lived and worked for most of his life in France. He was both French and German by nationality. Schenck was a pupil of Léon Cogniet in France. He became well known for his landscapes and paintings of animals. His works were first exhibited publicly in 1855. Anguish, perhaps his most famous painting, is an oil-on-canvas work showing a ewe grieving over the dead body of her lamb as they are encircled by ominous black crows. It was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in 1880. In 1885 he became knight of the Legion of Honour. Schenck died in Écouen near Paris.