Historic Huguenot Street, with help from its generous supporters, is commissioning fine artist Len Tantillo to create a series of three paintings depicting New Paltz and Huguenot Street in its early days. The paintings will eventually become part of a permanent exhibition at Historic Huguenot Street, enhancing our interpretations and aiding visitors in understanding what the street has looked like over different periods of time.
the huguenot redoubt
Len Tantillo explaining his artistic process at the July 2019 painting unveiling reception.
The first painting was completed in 2019, and in July, HHS hosted a celebratory reception to unveil the painting, The Huguenot Redoubt, c. 1685, and thank its supporters.
With a heavy emphasis on the use of primary resources and modern technology to create historically accurate paintings, Tantillo has exhibited his work across America and internationally. Based on decades of archaeological research conducted on the grounds of Huguenot Street, Len’s paintings will transform the museum’s interpretation of periods for which HHS lacks pictorial representations.
Prints of the painting are available for sale in our museum gift shop, as well as online. Note card sets, featuring preliminary pencil sketches for the first painting by Len Tantillo, are also available for purchase.
“My weekend had been an act of recreation: trying to bring places in the past back to life. To help me, I had . . . images by the historical artist Len Tantillo, who is as meticulous in his reconstructions of New Netherland as any academic historian I know.”
about the project
Len Tantillo is a licensed architect and renowned fine artist whose specialty is historical and marine painting. Mr. Tantillo creates his historically-accurate paintings with a heavy emphasis on the use of primary sources and detailed research, and has exhibited his work across America and internationally. He has been commissioned by museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. HHS is proud to be working with Len to create visual masterpieces of periods for which HHS lacks pictorial representations.
The scholarship derived from archaeology on the museum’s campus was conducted primarily by Dr. Joseph Diamond, professor and archaeologist at SUNY New Paltz.
