Hy Hintermeister

Years ago I ran across some beautiful old framed prints at an estate sale and they reminded me of my grandfather in Pennsylvania. The elderly gentleman was dressed in his hunting gear (this was prior to the fluorescent orange requirement) and inspecting his beloved hunting dog with her basket of young pups. This lovely scene had a “Norman Rockwell” quality to it so I decided to investigate further.

The first thing I found out in my research was that Hy Hintermeister was a psuedonym for John Henry Hintermeister and his son, Henry Hintermeister. The library of Congress lists over 600 copyrited prints by the father/son team and there is no way to know which fellow painted which picture!

John Henry was born in 1869 in Winterthur, Switzerland. His mother died when he was quite young and his father moved to the United States leaving the young John with relatives in Zurich. The family sent him to the University of Zurich to study art. After graduation, John was offered the position of Professor but declined and immigrated to the U.S. to join his father in New York City.

In the 1890’s lithography was a booming business and John found a job as a “black artist” which entailed drawing in the reverse on the “key” stone that laid down the black color for the lithograph. He eventually worked his way up to foreman. John was looking for another direction in his artistic life when the infamous “Park Place Disaster” helped him decide that life was short and he should follow his dreams. In this disaster the building he worked in was an old 1860’s structure that collapsed. The heavy presses were on the top floor and when they fell, everything below was destroyed. Nearly 700 people lost their lives in that catastrophic building failure. John narrowly escaped by jumping from the second story window into the arms of a large police officer.

Mr. Hintermeister’s talent and first love was painting portraits and he took a position as a “quick sketch” artist covering court cases for the newspaper. You still see this kind of art on the evening news when the cameras are not allowed in the courtroom and quick sketches are shown instead. John’s art was so good that he began to be in demand for illustrations and magazine cover art while continuing his portrait work on the side. John married in 1895 and had three children. He moved to a three story home in Brooklyn and converted the third story to a studio so he could work at home.

After World War I started, the advertising orders dwindled and John had to contact calendar companies to find enough work to feed his family and provide a steady income. The calendar companies needed a variety of work such as landscapes, people, humor, Native American , fishing and hunting scenes. Son Henry joined his father in the early 1920’s to help keep up with the large volume of artwork required for the calendar and recovering advertising industry Some of their most famous work was for safety posters and pictures depicting children and dogs.

One of the Hintermeisters most beloved painting series was the “Granny and Gramps” line which depicted old-fashioned grandparents joining their grandchildren on bikes, fishing or other funny settings. They also painted some lovely paintings for the Boy Scouts of America of which the originals belong to the organization and often travel the country in displays.

Both father and son painters injected humor into their paintings and one can’t help but laugh or feel a wave of nostalgia come over them. When working for a client the Hintermeisters would send a sketch to the client for approval then used models from a large pool of friends, family and neighbors. John died in 1945 and Henry in 1963. Both artists used the same signature but on rare occasion, John would sign “J. Hy Hintermeister.

Original old Hintermeister prints are still affordable and easily found on the internet for around $30 or less. I don’t think they are as popular as Norman Rockwell but they certainly are just as enjoyable and a wonderful example of Americana. Happy Collecting!

HHJ News