Letonoff donates historic painting to Lewes City Hall
Lewes artist Victor Letonoff is a big fan of former Vice President Joe Biden.
So, in 2010, when two of his works were chosen to hang in the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C., the 82-year-old lifelong artist was honored.
“It was a prideful thing for me,” he said.
One piece was an original oil painting called “So Proudly We Hailed,” depicting the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, the flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The other is a reproduction of a painting he was commissioned to paint by PNC Bank called “Symbols of Delaware.”
Each painting now hangs in Lewes City Hall, with Letonoff’s Fort McHenry flag painting prominently displayed in Council Chambers, where Letonoff served as a councilman for three terms.
“As a piece of Delaware history, we wanted it to be in a public place,” said Letonoff’s wife Lacy. “We love Lewes, so we thought city hall would be a wonderful place for it. We are very honored the city said they would take it.”
The flag that flew over Fort McHenry is unique because it featured 15 stars and 15 stripes. At the time, it was practice to add an additional star as well as a new stripe when a state was added to the union. In 1818, Congress passed an act to add a new star when a new state is added to the union, but it reduced the stripes back to 13 to honor the original colonies.
The painting hung prominently alongside Biden in the residence as he was sworn in for his second term as vice president. It was also featured in a Washington Post article written about the Bidens’ last few days in the mansion earlier this year.
Letonoff served in the Army for 35 years, receiving the Silver Star twice. He retired in 1988 as a colonel. He is a history buff who often reads historic nonfiction. It was through his reading and love for the country that he was inspired to paint the historic Fort McHenry flag.
Lewes Mayor Ted Becker said he was more than happy to accept and display the painting.
“The city is honored that Victor and Lacy have chosen Lewes City Hall as the home for his painting,” he said. “The fact that this painting hung in the vice president's mansion while Joe Biden was vice president makes this beautiful painting even more important. As the First Town in the First State, it is appropriate that the history of this flag is available for the public to enjoy.”
Prior to commissioning Letonoff to paint the “Symbols of Delaware,” PNC Bank had always commissioned artists to paint landscapes of the state. Letonoff’s piece, however, broke away from the norm, featuring the Delaware flag behind a table containing many of Delaware’s official symbols. Depicted in the painting are a blue hen, branches of a holly tree, ladybugs and strawberries.
Lacy Letonoff said Victor had to sign a contract with the Vice Presidents Residence Foundation prior to having the paintings displayed at the residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. In the contract, she said, the paintings would remain at the residence until the end of the term. After, it stipulated that the works could not be sold for six months.
The Letonoffs say there were several pieces from Delaware artists on display at the residence, including local artist Steve Rogers.
Letonoff has been an artist for most of his life, but it wasn’t until after he retired from the military that he jumped all in. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia in 1993, where he studied for nearly five years. He has produced myriad paintings over the last several decades on a variety of subjects and tries to sketch at least daily.
