Heinrich Pfeiffer

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Heinrich Herman R. Pfeiffer—who went by the nickname of Harry—is best known for his impressionist landscapes, seascapes, and marine scenes. He studied with leading artists of the day, including Hugh Breckenridge and Henry McCarter at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and with John F. Carlson at the Art Students League in New York. According to one source, he was also a student at the "Grand Académie Paris," probably the Académie de la Grande Chaumière which was a favored establishment for American artists because of its low fees.

Pfeiffer maintained a home and studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts, an art colony on Cape Cod where Blanche Lazzell was one of the leading figures. He purportedly owned the Provincetown Playhouse. Working in collaboration with Ross Moffett, a founder of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Pfeiffer taught painting classes which stressed a modernist approach.

In September 1920 he first visited St. Augustine, Florida, exclaiming to his wife, "Why this is heaven, we'll never leave this place." The following year he set up a gallery and studio, taught classes, and painted the picturesque surroundings of the old city. He also lived briefly in St. Petersburg and was active with the Art Club of St. Petersburg (now Morean Arts Center). An art critic there described his approach to painting: "Mr. Pfeiffer prefers to suggest his story by rhythm of color and pattern and lets the beholder, by the emotion aroused in his own mind, clothe this framework with details."

As noted in a New Oxford, Pennsylvania, newspaper, in 1932 Pfeiffer took a studio in Paris and was "busily painting scenes along the river Seine." The article also refers to a winter he spent in New Orleans where he decorated the "famous old French theater", which might refer to Le Petit Theatre; the specific location is still unconfirmed. He returned to St. Augustine in 1933, and was active with the St. Augustine Art Association which owns examples of his work. Ten years later the artist offered instruction at the Norton Art School in Palm Beach, Florida (a component of what is now the Norton Museum of Art). Pfeiffer also worked as an illustrator for popular magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post. He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, National Academy of Design, Art Institute of Chicago, and Corcoran Gallery of Art. His paintings were included in the Provincetown Art Association shows from 1920–1957; the association also owns samples of his work.