John Henry Hintermeister (1869-1945) was a Swiss-born American artist, a "well-known illustrator and a painter of American historical scenes," who created paintings for calendars and advertising illustration for the American Art Works company,

Brown & Bigelow Brown & Bigelow is a company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that sells branded apparel and promotional merchandise. History The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hiram Brown. On June 24, 1924, Bigelow was convicted fo ...

Church and Dwight Church & Dwight is an American consumer goods company focusing on personal care, household products, and specialty products. The company was founded in 1846 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey. It is the parent company of well-known brands ...

, Louis F. Dow, Kemper-Thomas, the Osborne Co., and Thomas D. Murphy. He was the father of another illustrator, Henry Hintermeister. Both men used the signature Hy Hintermeister, causing confusion among collectors. The two worked together, producing more than 1050 illustrations.

Education and career

John Henry Hintermeister was born in Winterthur, Switzerland, and attended the University of Zurich. When his father August Friedrich Hintermeister immigrated to the United States, he remained in Switzerland to finish school, studying art. He turned down a professorship in Switzerland and a chance to teach, choosing instead to join his father in the United States in 1890. In the United States, he worked as a courtroom artist and as a commercial illustrator. After nearly dying in the Park Place Disaster in August 1891, in which the factory building he was working in collapsed, he stepped away from the in-factory lithography that he was doing at the time to "pursue his dreams." He painted original art for the next 50 years, and had works given copyright in the 1946 registry. His subjects included "landscapes, people, humor, Native Americans, fishing and hunting scenes." His son joined him in the business by the early 1920s and the two worked together, producing artwork for calendars, safety posters, and advertising, with images including kids and dogs, the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

, "Granny and Gramps" humor illustrations, fishing and hunting scenes. He became one of the oldest members of the New York City Swiss Society and was "a member of the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

, the Brooklyn Society of Artists, and the Artists Professional League."

Gallery

John Henry Hintermeister signed his paintings "Hy Hintermeister", the same as his son, but he would sometimes add his first initial, signing "J. Hy. Hintermeister." File:Black Canada Grouse by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1908, '' Black Canada Grouse''. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Flamingo by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1908, ''

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...

'', by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Kingfisher by John Henry Hintermeister, Arm & Hammer baking soda add.jpg, 1908, ''Kingfisher''. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Magpie by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1908, ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

'', by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Passenger pigeon by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1908, ''

Passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...

'' by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Robin snipe by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1908, '' Robin snipe'' by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Village Blacksmith by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1908, ''Village Blacksmith'', by John Henry Hintermeister File:Bluejay by John Henry Hintermeister, 1908.jpg, 1910, ''

Blue Jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...

'' by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:Woodcock feeding by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1910, ''

Woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

s Feeding'', by John Henry Hintermeister. Published by Church and Dwight. File:A Safe Crossing by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1917, ''A Safe Crossing'' by John Henry Hintermeister File:Morning Walk by John Henry Hintermeister (1869-1945).jpg, 1923, ''Morning Walk'' by John Henry Hintermeister File:Revere (Paul) arousing Hancock and Adams by Hy Hintermeister.jpg, 1924, ''Revere (Paul) arousing Hancock and Adams by Hy Hintermeister''. Unclear if John Henry or Henry Hintermeister was creator. File:Thoroughbreds by Hy Hintermeister.jpg, 1933, ''Thoroughbreds'' by Hy Hintermeister. Not clear which painter created the image. File:Touchdown by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1936, ''Touchdown'' by John Henry Hintermeister File:Golden Pheasants by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1938, ''Golden Pheasants'' by John Henry Hintermeister File:Home Guard by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1941,''The Home Guard'' File:Watch 'er fly, Gramp by John Henry Hintermeister.jpg, 1941, ''Watch 'er fly, Gramp'' File:A Photo Finish, by John Henry Hintermeister (1869-1945).jpg, 1942, ''A Photo Finish'' by John Henry Hintermeister. Example of work using the same "Hy Hintermeister" that his son used. The copyright registration made it clear that this was John Henry Hintermeister. File:Welcome Home by Hy Hintermeister.jpg, 1943/1945, ''Our heroes return'' or ''Welcome home''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hintermeister, John Henry 20th-century American painters American illustrators 1869 births 1945 deaths