Arthur William Heintzelman

Arthur William Heintzelman

Arthur Heintzelman was born in New Jersey and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He became a premier printmaker and took his early art education at the Rhode Island School of Design. He traveled for two years in Europe and then became head of the Fine Arts Departments at the Detroit and the Rhode Island Schools of Design. Heintzelman was awarded the first RISD Alumni Association Traveling Scholarship in May 1911. He traveled through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, England, and Scotland from June to September, returning to RISD that fall as a postgraduate student and an Instructor's assistant. He left RISD in 1912, but returned in 1915 at the request of the RISD Executive Committee. He taught primarily in the Freehand Drawing and Painting Department, but he did not serve as the head of the department. From 1916, he focused on etching, and from 1921 to 1935, studied that medium in Paris. In 1941, he became Keeper of Prints at the Boston Public Library and Curator of the Albert Wiggin Collection. He also wrote and lectured extensively on great printmakers, past and present. In later years, Heintzelman served as President of the RISD Alumni Association, 1944-1945; RISD Trustee, 1946-1964; and Emeritus Trustee, 1964-1965.