The Hintermeister Project

The Henry/Hy Hintermeister Collection at Fraunces Tavern Museum

Retreat to Victory, Oil on canvas, 1961 Gift of Charles Lauriston Livingston, Jr., 1969

Conserving the Hintermeister Collection
As part of a continuing collections care initiative, the curator Jessica Baldwin has determined that the Henry/Hy Hintermeister collection is the next painting conservation priority.

Henry Hintermeister (1897-1972) was an illustrator and painter whose drawings, mainly depicting historical events, could be found on several magazine covers in the first half of the 20th century. His works were also reproduced on commonly used items such as calendars and puzzles. His father, John Henry Hintermester (1870-1945) was an illustrator as well and the two often worked as a team. Under the pseudonym "Hy Hintermeister", they became a well-respected illustration duo, producing more than 1,000 illustrations. As noted by Rick and Charlotte Martin in Vintage Illustration (1997), "Like Norman Rockwell, the Hintermeisters excelled in situational or storytelling illustration."

Father and son produced a series of calendars chronicling American history from 1775-1787. The originals of many of these images can be found in Fraunces Tavern Museum's collection, a number of which have been marked for conservation needs. Because the Hintermeister paintings are a valuable learning tool used to tell the story of the American Revolution, they are heavily featured in many of the museum's exhibits.

Past Conservation Efforts a Success at the Museum

In 2006, Fraunces Tavern Museum began a campaign to conserve 35 paintings in its John Ward Dunsmore collection: 45 works that illustrate important events of the Revolutionary War. To date, the campaign has been a success with only 7 paintings still awaiting sponsorship for conservation. Our Dunsmores now occupy their own gallery and have become a valuable learning tool for students and adult visitors alike.

The museum currently needs to raise approximately $13,000 to complete the first phase of the Hintermeister project. More paintings marked for conservation will be listed in the near future. On average, the cost of sponsoring a painting plus its frame is $3000.

Complete sponsorship of a painting and frame will be recognized with a notation on the painting's title card whenever it is displayed as well as in publications that mention or discuss the painting in detail. Partial sponsorship of the project is noted on a donors' plaque in the gallery where the painting is being exhibited. The paintings also reach a wider audience when loaned out to other historical institutions.

Hintermeister paintings currently available for sponsorship:

		Retreat to Victory chronicles Washington leading Continental Army's retreat from New York City in 1776.
		Washington Triumphantly Entering New York City depicts Washington's return to reclaim the City at the very end of the War.
		George Washington Raising the First American Flag, Boston, 1776 at the end of the Siege of Boston.
		On the Eve of Victory, Mount Vernon shows Washington on a visit home before the decisive Battle at Yorktown.

Please contact the Museum Curator at 212-425-1778, ext. 3 for further details, or email at:
curator@frauncestavernmuseum.org

You can also send your tax-deductible donation, made out to "Sons of the Revolution NY" to: Sons of the Revolution, ATTN: Administrator, 54 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10004; donations can also be made online here: