Oil on Canvas, William Pachner (b1915) The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, usually known by the more familiar name of the Washington National Cathedral. Signed and dated 2008. In gilt wood frame with linen liner and gilt molding. In frame 20"x24"x2". Weight is 6 pds. PROVENANCE: The private collection of a popular Washington DC Interior Designer. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1915, Pachner came to the United States in 1939 on the eve of World War II after studying art in Vienna, and working as an illustrator in Prague. He lost eighty members of his family in the holocaust. In 1945 he settled in Woodstock, NY. In his early works, he consistently returned to motifs that referenced the brutality of the war period. His first paintings were illustrative, deriving from his success as a commercial illustrator. Major themes were crucifixion, motherhood, and the embrace, which he viewed as universal expressions of human emotions. Works included satiric drawings, erotic figurative, biblical Judaic and Christian themes. Pachner taught at the Art Students League in Woodstock, had numerous one-man exhibitions in New York City and Florida, and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts, two Ford Foundation grants, and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award for paintings Pachner has had shows at the Tampa Museum of Art, the Florida Holocaust Museum, and the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Art. His work is represented in many museums and private collections, including the Whitney Museum.

good