Donald Trachte (May 21, 1915 – May 4, 2005) was an American cartoonist known for his work on the comic strip ''

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

''.

Personal life

Trachte was born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

in 1915. He graduated from Central High School in Madison, attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

and later served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a lieutenant. The Trachte family lived in

Sandgate, Vermont Sandgate is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 387 at the 2020 census. Geography Sandgate is located in northwestern Bennington County and is entirely within the Taconic Mountains. It is bordered to the nor ...

for many years. Trachte died in 2005 in the neighboring city of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Trachte has four children: a daughter, Marjorie Rosenberg, Locust Valley, N.Y.; Donald Trachte Jr., Burlington; David Trachte, Sandgate; and Jon Trachte, Houston, Texas.

Career

He started working on comics in 1932 as an assistant of

Carl Thomas Anderson Carl Thomas Anderson (February 14, 1865 – November 4, 1948) was an American cartoonist best remembered for his comic strip ''Henry (comics), Henry''. Readers followed the pantomime adventures of the mute, bald-headed Henry in strips which he si ...

at age 17, after taking art classes from Anderson in high school. He worked on the Sunday version of the ''

'' comics from Anderson's death in 1948 until 1995. ( John Liney worked on the daily comics.) While living in Vermont, Trachte became friends with a group of artists that included

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Grandma Moses Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. M ...

, and

Mead Schaeffer Mead Schaeffer (July 15, 1898 – November 6, 1980) was an :20th-century American illustrators, American illustrator active from the early to middle twentieth century. Biography Schaeffer was born in Freedom Plains, New York, in 1898, the s ...

. The Trachte family lived in Schaeffer's old house, which Trachte bought from him in 1950.

Norman Rockwell replica

A discovery in 2006 revealed that Trachte created a near-perfect replica of Rockwell's '' Breaking Home Ties'' as well as several other original works that he owned, ostensibly in order to protect them. An article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' speculated that he may have made the copies in order to keep his wife, Elizabeth from getting them after their divorce in 1973. Upon the discovery of the original ''Breaking Home Ties'' by his son Don Jr., it was sold at auction for $15 million, a record at the time for a Rockwell.

References

External links

Lambiek: Don Trachte

from ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'' 1915 births 2005 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American military personnel of World War II University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni {{US-cartoonist-stub