Heinrich Pfeiffer, St. Johns River, Florida, oil on canvas 22 by 24 inches. Signed lower left, titled verso.
One of the senior resident artists in St. Augustine, Heinrich Pfeiffer first came to St. Augustine in September 1920, from Provincetown, Massachusetts. “The weather up north was just too cold.” When he reached St. Augustine he said to his wife, “Why this is heaven, we’ll never leave this place.” By January 1921 Pfeiffer had opened a studio and gallery, the Gallery on the Bay, at the old Pinkham dock, just down from where the Bridge of Lions is today. Here he taught outdoor art classes and began painting the fort, the bay, the streets, and the warm quaintness of the old city.
Heinrich Pfeiffer, A Harbor Scene (St. Augustine), oil on canvas 25.5 by 30 inches, signed lower left, Harry Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer lived briefly in St. Petersburg, exhibiting at the Art Club of St. Petersburg, with Theodore Coe. Eve Alsman Fuller, the art editor of the St. Petersburg Times, said of Pfeiffer’s work, “People usually have decided opinions about Mr. Pfeiffer’s work. They immediately either like it very much or not at all. For it illustrates in a decided manner the modern trend of art which calls for economical, almost meagre use of those artistic tools of line and color which make a picture. Mr. Pheiffer prefers to suggest his story by rhythm of color and pattern and let the beholder, by the emotion aroused in his own mind, clothe this framework with details.”
Pheiffer was exhibiting in Jacksonville in February 1930 and his paintings were popular. In 1933 Pfeiffer returned to St. Augustine to open a studio at No. 16 Marine Street, opposite the Municipal Yacht Pier. For years he was an important figure in the St. Augustine Art Club, returning for the winter season, from his summer home and studio in Provincetown, on Cape Cod, where he owned the Provincetown Playhouse.
The St. Augustine Record, December 1, 1940 in describing his work at the Florida Federation of Art exhibit, commented, “Heinrich Pfeiffer, the doyen of the art group here, has two oils in the exhibition. One…is in his usual style which has won him the honors and renown of his successful career. The other, ‘Florida Landscape’ shows a newer, wider scope. It is clear cut impressionism at its best and in brilliance of color, sweep of thought, and bold execution is, to my mind, his finest effort.” In 1943 Pfeiffer was conducting art classes at the Norton School of Art in West Palm Beach.
Heinrich Pfeiffer, Bethesda Gardens, Palm Beach, oil on board, 13 by 14 in
Born: 1874, Pennsylvania. Died: 1957. Education: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Art Students League, NYC; Charcoal Club, Baltimore; Grand Academie Paris. Membership: St. Augustine Arts Club; Florida Federation of Art; Society of The Four Arts. Exhibits: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, January 1921, View of St. Augustine from Anastasia Island; St. Augustine Arts Club, Woman’s Exchange, Burt House, January 1934; St. Augustine Arts Club, Art Mart, Old Slave Market Plaza, February 1934; Florida Federation of Art, 11th Annual Exhibition, St. Augustine, December 2-5, 1937, Early Spring; SAAC, February 1937; SAAC, January-February 1938; Florida Federation of Art 12th Annual, Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach, December 1938, Old Garden and Matanzas Bay; SAAC, January-March 1939; Florida Federation of Art, Bradenton, December 1940, Fort Marion Park, Florida Landscape; SAAC, Alcazar Hotel, January 1941, Passing Storm, Southern Landscape, Warm Rain; SAAC, February 1941, oil, Passing Storm; Society of The Four Arts, 4th Annual Members Exhibit, Palm Beach, March 1942, Morning on The High Seas, Old Spanish House; Society of The Four Arts, 5th Annual Members Exhibit, January 1943, oils, Cape Cod Landscape, Cape Cod; SAAC, February 1945, oils, Trees, The Pond; SAAC, January 1946, Elephant Ears; SAAC, February 1946, oils, Evening Song, Studio Garden; SAAC, March 1946, Salt Run, Forest Stream; SAAC, February 1947, Woodland Ballet; SAAC, March 1947, Old Wall and Garden, A Florida Park, Luxembourg Garden; SAAC, January 1948, Everglades Park; SAAC, February 1948, Autumn Landscape; Society of The Four Arts, 12th Annual Members Exhibit, December 1949-January 1950; St. Augustine Art Association, January 1951, honorable mention, Provincetown Harbor; SAAA, March 1951, Beatrice Bartlett Award, Florida River Scene; March of Dimes, Outdoor Exhibit, St. Augustine Plaza, February 1953; Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Art Institute of Chicago; Art Club of St. Petersburg; The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. Directory: Listed in the St. Augustine City Directory in 1955 as an artist with studio at 18 Aviles.
