Loss and Affirmation: In Conversation with Charles E. Pachner

Loss and Affirmation: In Conversation with Charles E. Pachner

September 16, 2019 at 6:30pm at The Florida Holocaust Museum

The Florida Holocaust Museum presents Loss and Affirmation: In Conversation with Charles E. Pachner on Monday, September 16th at 6:30pm at the Museum! 

Charles E. Pachner, son of the late William Pachner, and The FHM’s Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, Erin Blankenship will discuss artist William Pachner and the role of art as witness, its role in Holocaust education, and the artists’ legacy.  This event will also include a wine and cheese reception.

American artist William Pachner emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1939 to pursue a career as an illustrator for mass magazines like Esquire, Colliers, and Cosmopolitan. After American entered World War II and being rejected after attempting to enlist in the Army, he began to devote himself to illustrating anti-fascist stories, painting portraits of wounded soldiers, and making art in praise of the Allied Powers.  When the war ended in 1945 and learning that his brother and parents were murdered, Pachner abandoned is lucrative illustration career to become a full-time studio artist.  During the years that immediately followed the war, his artwork communicated his reaction to inhumanity and the tragedy of the Holocaust. 

This exhibition looks back at his work created as art director for Esquire Magazine, and then as a freelance artist for magazines, and follows with artworks created in the aftermath of the Holocaust that convey his deep sense of loss and his reaffirmation of our shared humanity.

This program is free and open to the public. Please call 727.820.0100 x301 to reserve your seat. RSVP is required.