Joyce Kilmer Park

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Louis J. Heintz Memorial

History

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found postedwithin the park.

Who is this monument dedicated to?
This monument honors Louis J. Heintz (1861-1893), early Bronx civic leader and the first Street Commissioner for the Bronx. More broadly, as its inscription states, it is a testimonial “to the progress and prosperity of the Bronx.”

Heintz was born in Manhattan in 1861 and began his career with the John Eichler Brewing Company, owned by his uncle, and served as president of the Brewers’ Board of Trade of New York. After a section of the Bronx known as the 23rd and 24th Wards was annexed by New York City in the 19th century, Heintz supported a successful campaign by Bronx residents to create a separate board of improvements for the district and became well-regarded in the community in the process.

As Street Commissioner he worked on initial plans for the Grand Concourse. A rising political star, Heintz contracted a cold during Presidential inauguration ceremonies for one-time New York Governor Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) and died soon thereafter.

How was this created?
The Louis J. Heintz Monument Association commissioned the artwork through charitable contributions. The monument was dedicated in 1909 at the Grand Concourse, for which Heintz as Street Commissioner had advocated. It consists of a monumental portrait sculpture of Heintz atop a substantial tapered granite pedestal. On the front, a bronze allegorical figure of Fame inscribes Heintz’s name and a tribute to the founding and future of the Bronx.

The creator of this monument’s statuary, Pierre Feitu (1866-1938), was a French sculptor, medal maker and goldsmith, active in Paris, New York, and Mexico City. From 1882 he worked as a merchant marine in Brest in France and later worked for the railroad in Algeria in 1889-1890. Back in Paris, he joined the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1899 and then later the Salon of Société des Artistes Français. Feitu also served for a time as a drawing instructor in Spain.

Feitu lived in New York City from 1902-1910, the period in which this monument was fashioned. He married a granddaughter of the composer Hector Berlioz, and while in the United States sculpted “At Ease-Rest” for the St. Louis Fair of 1904. Later in Mexico City in 1910-11, Feitu sculpted a portrait bust of President Porfirio Díaz. He returned to Paris in 1911, and in 1915 made a sword for the Parisians to give to Belgian King Albert I. For the city of Saint-Gaudens, he made a sculpture honoring leading sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and made tomb monuments and memorials for Caudéran, Gironde and Cour–Cherverny in Loir-et Cher.

William Welles Bosworth (1869-1966) designed the monument’s pedestal. He was a prolific and accomplished architect best known for his plan for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus and the AT&T Building in Lower Manhattan. He also oversaw the restoration of the Palace of Versailles and had a major hand in the Rockefeller estate known as Kykuit in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

During a reconfiguration of the park in 1935-36, the monument was moved to its present location. By that time, it had lost its bronze palm leaf and was later plagued by vandalism. The allegorical figure’s pen was stolen in 1971 and in 1980 the symbolic figure toppled. While in storage the sculpture was mutilated by thieves who severed and stole its arms, feet and head.

In 2000 remaining portions of the monument were cleaned, and the bronze repatined and conserved through a capital project. In 2022 NYC Parks’ Citywide Monuments Conservation Program staff completed a multi-year restoration of the long-stored figure of Fame, replicating all missing bronze features, and the statue was reinstalled. The fully restored monument was celebrated in a community ceremony on December 9, 2022.

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Louis J. Heintz Memorial Details

Sculptor: Pierre Feitu
Architect: William Welles Bosworth
Description: Standing figure with integral plinth on a pedestal on a three-step base; a female figure stands at the front of the pedestal in the act of writing an inscription on it
Materials: Figures--bronze; Pedestal and steps--Somesound granite
Dimensions: Total H: 19'6" W: 9' D" 9'
Cast: 1905
Dedicated: 1909
Inscription: 1) Signed on integral plinth, proper left: PIERRE FEITU NY 1909 /

2) Founder's mark on integral plinth, proper right: AUBRY BRO'S FOUNDERS N.Y. /

3) Front of pedestal: LOUIS J. HEINTZ

4) Front of pedestal, words being written by Fame: TO COMMEMORATE / THE FOUNDING OF / THE PROGRESS AND / PROSPERITY OF THE / BRONX /

5) Plaque at pedestal rear: JOHN J. RONNER / JOHN H. KNOPPEL / WILLIAM G. MC CREA / LOUIS A. RISSE / LOUIS F. FAFFEN / ADOLPH C. HUPFEL / MATHEW P. BREEN / HENRY C. SCHRADER / ARTHUR C. BUTTS / 1905 /

Please note, the NAME field includes a primary designation as well as alternate namingsoften in common or popular usage. The DEDICATED field refers to the most recent dedication, most often, butnot necessarily the original dedication date. If the monument did not have a formal dedication, the yearlisted reflects the date of installation.

For more information, please contact Art & Antiquities at (212) 360-8163