“Bill Pachner, a Jew from Czechoslovakia who immigrated to the United States in 1939 to take a job as a commercial artist, lost virtually his entire family during the Holocaust. When he learned of his loss, he devoted his life to fine art, the kind of work that Hitler called ‘degenerate.’ “In the 1980s, he lost most of his vision, but was able to paint in black on white. The Holocaust remained his primary subject, but these new works were easier to decipher: a train entering an oven-shaped tunnel. The painting on loan, Landscape in Autumn, is one of turbulence, a world gone mad. Today Mr. Pachner, 102, lives in Woodstock, New York.” -Mary Ann Marger

Pachner’s involvement with the Arts Center goes back many years. He gave a lecture in 1971 at the Center. There were 200 tickets available for $4 each, and the event sold out. Later, in 1988, the Arts Center mounted a solo exhibition of the artist’s work.

Collection of Bruce and Mary Ann Marger