82/150: Celebrating Charles Pachter for Canada Day

Perfect for Canada Day, Charles Pachter (1942) is one of the country’s most collected and beloved artists. His stylish Canadian images are instantly identifiable, especially his flags, moose and rural landscapes.

Rendered with sharp colour and bold graphics, this is Pop Art in the classic sense, made within (and for) a specifically Canadian context – Heffel

Pachter hit national controversy in 1972, when he painted Queen Elizabeth II on mooseback. Critics were outraged and royalists picketed his home, the Queen’s image being sacrosanct in that era. Due to the potentially offensive depiction of the monarch in Noblesse Oblige, Pachter’s dealer had refused to allow him to exhibit the work, but Pachter arranged to do so independently.

Moose Theme Continued

Pachter didn’t hesitate to continue the theme of Queen and Moose. His original piece is said to have tickled the Queen’s well known sense of humour and the two eventually met in London in 2015. The moose itself became integral to his work. More about his artistic approach in this six-minute video.

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Pachter uses diverse styles, from the flat forms of pop to expressionist brushstrokes, to depict the quintessential country barns, flags and related Canadian motifs. 

Pachter’s works exhibit an affectionately playful approach to patriotism, skewering Canada’s sense of self and recontextualizing its colonial histories by satirizing and celebrating national imagery in equal measure – Heffel

Embedded in Culture

A painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and author, Pachter has had a solo career internationally across Europe and Asia, and has exhibited his work at multiple major institutions (see complete bio here). He is the recipient of the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals and a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Sorbonne-Paris.

His work is deeply embedded in Canadian culture (below, hockey mural at a Toronto subway station).

His sense of humour shows. Below: The Supremes, 1985 and Davenport & Bay, 1984 (a Toronto reference if you’re wondering).

His sculptures are also popular, such as this one called “Moose Plunge,” from Oeno Gallery.

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Friendship with Atwood

Pachter is also well known for his friendship with Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood. They met in 1959 at an Ontario camp where he taught art and she taught nature. Over time, Pachter illustrated six of her poetry collections, including the critically praised Journals of Susanna Moodie.

Completed in 1980, and now in collections worldwide, two master Spanish printers worked with Pachter for the better part of a year to create the 120 boxed sets. Each one contains 28 hand printed pages. (See more about the project, and about Pachter, at Oeno Gallery, which represents him)

Image at top of post:

Charles Pachter’s website, here.

At Oeno Gallery, which represents him, here.

At Heffel Fine Art, here.

A must-read profile in Zoomer magazine, here.

A review of the biography – Charles Pachter: Canada’s Artist, by Leonard Wise, in Canadian Jewish News, here.

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This is No. 82 in 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.