The Pilgrim.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Arthur William Heintzelman (1890-1965) was a painter, etcher, copyist, teacher and curator. Raised in Providence, Rhode Island, he first studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he subsequently taught, and also in Europe. The Heintzelmans made their home in France and subsequently in Switzerland from 1921 until 1934, when they returned to the United States. Already widely respected as a printmaker prior to his departure for Europe, he became internationally famous during his years abroad. In appreciation for his contribution to French art and culture, he was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.

Following his return to the United States, Heintzelman became the first Keeper of Prints at the Boston Public Library and served there from 1941 to his retirement in 1960, and also headed the Fine Arts department of the Rhode Island School of Design. He was awarded numerous international prizes for his etchings, and his works are found in museum collections through the US and Europe. Heintzelman belonged to numerous professional associations both in the US and abroad. He lived and worked in Boston, Marblehead and Rockport, Massachusetts and in New York City. He died at Rockport, Massachusetts.

In 1988, Daniel Burke, Director of the La Salle Art Museum, praised  Heintzelman's portraits of the elderly as 'strong and direct interpretations of men and women from the cafes of Paris or the farms of New England and the Pennsylvania Dutch country... In much of his work, one senses the tradition of Rembrandt, the artist looking with compassion on his subjects and rendering their complicated and tangled humanity with strong draftsmanship and with a subtle interplay of dark and light tones'. This early, vignetted portrait - or rather 'type' - shows Heintzelman excelling here.

See:

Arthur Heintzelman (1891-1965): A Selection of Prints from The Collection of Donald E. Smith, La Salle University Museum, 1988,  http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=exhibition_catalogues

Brier Hill Gallery, https://brierhillgallery.com/arthur-william-heintzelman/

Malcolm Salaman, 'Arthur W. Heintzelman: His Prints in Europe', More Books: Bulletin of the Boston Public Library, Sixth Series, Volume XIX, 1944, https://archive.org/stream/morebooks1944bost/morebooks1944bost_djvu.txt

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art     April 2018