{"id":972,"date":"2025-09-05T09:50:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T09:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cpachter.com\/?page_id=972"},"modified":"2025-09-09T06:50:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:50:34","slug":"press","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/?page_id=972","title":{"rendered":"PRESS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201d The power and paradox of Pachter\u2019s art is the way you sense a national character simply by standing in front of his work. In his iconoclastic visual metaphors I find myself luxuriating in their beauty and sensuality. I find new connections in their strange, jarring juxtapositions. Pachter\u2019s creative impulse extends from finding, in the cultural heritage of his country, evidence of the fundamental stories that make us human: myths. For Pachter, life has an operatic dimension. He has devoted his considerable skills to rocking his audiences with grand gesture, profound feeling, sensual overload, and glorious, splendid expressions of being human\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Smart, Saint John Telegraph Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTHE ARTIST WHO CREATED CANADA\u2019S MODERN MYTHOLOGY: Renowned for his iconic renderings of the Canadian flag, the Queen astride a moose and cultural icons from Margaret Atwood to Pierre Trudeau, painter and printmaker Charles Pachter has himself become an icon of this country\u2019s art scene. Over his 50-year career, his boldly graphic works and uncloying patriotism have presented a cheeky yet defining vision of Canada and its culture unlike any other.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betty Ann Jordan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith continuing grand gestures Pachter has staked out cultural territory of his own and celebrated it unabashedly\u2026 He is a serious minded humorist who possesses the gift to be roguish and poignant at once.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPachter\u2019s works address larger concerns that speak to a wider audience than perhaps any other artist in Canada.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher Hume, Toronto Star<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIronical work that is both serious and self-parodying. Pachter works hard, even at the trivial. The paintings are beautiful in one way or another, like joke panels that take your breath away. These witty, occasionally dry images are more than urban jokes; they have emotional staying power. Pachter invades Pop culture with surreal wit. He sometimes paints as an insider to culture and at others like a true outcast. His work escapes a tendency towards intellectualism through the sheer power of talent and love of image.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David MacLean, Vancouver Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201con se sent en pr\u00e9sence d\u2019un homme intelligent, cultiv\u00e9 et sensible qui nous fait d\u00e9couvrir des mondes insoup\u00e7onn\u00e9s \u00e0 port\u00e9e de la main.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierre Karch, L\u2019Express de Toronto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharlie\u2019s canvases are windows into the soul of Canada\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc C\u00f4t\u00e9, Cormorant Books<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE JOURNALS OF SUSANNA MOODIE
by Margaret Atwood and Charles Pachter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is truly the most magnificent book ever to be produced in Canada, a benchmark in the history of Canadian printing. It is immensely gratifying to find how Pachter\u2019s graphics so extend, expand and explore the inner meaning of Atwood\u2019s text.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beth Miller<\/strong>
Special collections Librarian<\/strong>
University of Western Ontario<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201d \u2026What is so astonishing is that Pachter\u2019s illustrations complement the poems yet exist at the same time as separate and powerful works of art. There is an unusual dependence and simultaneous independence, similar to the best of the medieval illuminations which use the text as a springboard for creativity.\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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David Staines<\/strong>
Dean of Arts<\/strong>
University of Ottawa<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAtwood speaks in a powerful modern voice. Pachter\u2019s uncompromisingly strong yet sensitive imagery hovers properly between his vision of what Atwood is saying and what the words say on the page.This book is a magnificent example of its kind, to be savored at once and in successive stages.\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Cynthia Nadelman
Art News, New York<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2026The poetry is moving, readable, engaging, and beautifully printed with Pachter\u2019s powerful, expressionistic and highly original images. This is a wonderful complement of poetry and visual art and Susanna Moodie\u2019s story is not lost in this burst of virtuosity.\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Peterborough Examiner<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2026Pachter\u2019s collaboration with Atwood represents a Canadian \u201cmoment of being\u201d similar to that signalled by Ambroise Vollard\u2019s art book publications in Paris more than 50 years ago. When Pachter draws upon his understanding of human personality and his instinct for the historical and the narrative, he truly comes into his own. It is for this reason that The Journals of Susanna Moodie has provided such an auspicious outlet for Pachter\u2019s gifts and will remain one of his most successful creations. \u201c<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Sarah Milroy<\/strong>
Canadian Forum<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2026The cross-fertilization of poetry and the visual arts has been the springboard for a lot of good writing over the centuries. \u2026Pachter\u2019s silkscreen prints, almost Jungian in their elemental power, complement Atwood\u2019s work perfectly, not simply illustrating images from the poems, but finding visual correlatives for their desolate majesty\u2026 \u201cThe Journals of Susanna Moodie\u201d is a haunting piece of work, enhanced terrifically by Pachter\u2019s visual riffing off Atwood\u2019s words. It is a synergistic masterpiece. \u201c<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Da Brewst, Amazon. com 1997<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LE METROPOLITAIN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

L<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>artiste torontois Charles Pachter: nouvel officier de l<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>Ordre du Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 11 2012, par Raphael Lopoukhine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Pachter vient d\u2019\u00eatre promu officier de l\u2019Ordre du Canada. Il s\u2019agit du plus haut rang d\u2019un ordre qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 institu\u00e9 le 17 avril 1967 par la reine Elizabeth II, sur les conseils du premier ministre Lester B. Pearson. Il a \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9\u00e9 pour reconna\u00eetre les actions exemplaires et les services rendus au Canada, par des Canadiens. Le gouverneur g\u00e9n\u00e9ral Roland Michener a \u00e9t\u00e9 le premier \u00e0 y \u00eatre re\u00e7u, puis, 90 personnes se sont jointes \u00e0 lui six jours plus tard, soit le 7 juillet 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A part ceux qui n\u2019ont jamais pris le m\u00e9tro, tous les Torontois connaissent Charles Pachter ou ses oeuvres. En effet, il est l\u2019auteur des c\u00e9l\u00e8bres fresques de la station College, qui voient se faire face les Maple Leafs de Toronto et les Canadiens de Montr\u00e9al. Les deux \u00e9quipes rivales sont repr\u00e9sent\u00e9es en action, chacune sur son quai, comme si elles d\u00e9fendaient leur territoire. Les fresques, appel\u00e9es Hockey Knights in Canada, Les Rois de l\u2019Ar\u00e8ne<\/em>  ont \u00e9t\u00e9 peintes en 1984, alors que les Maple Leafs jouaient au Maple Leaf Gardens, situ\u00e9 \u00e0 proximit\u00e9 de la station de m\u00e9tro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La promotion de Charles Pachter est un clin d\u2019oeil assez dr\u00f4le, car outre la fresque du m\u00e9tro, l\u2019artiste est connu pour ses repr\u00e9sentations nombreuses, irr\u00e9v\u00e9rencieuses et cr\u00e9atives de la reine Elizabeth, ainsi que d\u2019autres membres de la famille royale britannique. Ces personnages royaux sont presque toujours accompagn\u00e9s d\u2019un vigoureux orignal tout droit sorti du parc Algonquin. L\u2019orignal est d\u2019ailleurs un \u00e9l\u00e9ment central et r\u00e9current de l\u2019oeuvre du peintre, n\u00e9 \u00e0Toronto en 1942. On peut en voir dans de nombreux tableaux, et dans autant de situations. Par exemple, dans On the Road Again (2008), c\u2019est l\u2019orignal qui conduit, et le chasseur qui est attach\u00e9 sur le capot de la voiture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Pachter, qui parle fran\u00e7ais couramment, est tr\u00e8s attach\u00e9 \u00e0 sa ville natale, o\u00fb il habite et travaille. Il empreinte parfois des symboles de Toronto, comme la tour CN, repr\u00e9sent\u00e9e sous un orignal qui se prom\u00e8ne sur un fil, en suspension, tranquille. (Tour de Force II-1987).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L\u2019art est d\u00e9cid\u00e9ment \u00e0 l\u2019honneur, en ce d\u00e9but d\u2019ann\u00e9e, puisque dans le m\u00eame temps, David Hockney, dont l\u2019exposition Fresh Flowers vient de se terminer au ROM, a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9cor\u00e9 par la reine de l\u2019Ordre du M\u00e9rite. Une distinction supr\u00e8me, dont seules 30 personnes sont honor\u00e9es (Jean Chr\u00e9tien en est le seul r\u00e9cipiendaire canadien). Contrairement \u00e0 Charles Pachter, David Hockney a toujours refus\u00e9 de peindre la reine ou sa famille. Charles Pachter a pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 explorer l\u2019imaginaire canadien, avec ses drapeaux, ses orignaux et sa reine. Deux conceptions du r\u00f4le de l\u2019art, et deux r\u00e9compenses pour deux artistes contemporains majeurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CANADA DAY July 1 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curator Tom Smart column in St John Telegraph Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moose Factory sits squashed between two houses in a tiny urban enclave a block from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Its cantilevered second \ufb02oor gallery juts out into the shady avenue like a chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The odd modern incarnation of the building, whose history includes spells as a Chinese food warehouse and a turn-of-the-century funeral parlour, is the home and studio of Charles Pachter, the indomitable, gifted Canadian artist and self-styled national icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Canada Day weekend, my mind turns to Charlie\u2019s work and life. It seems that the past months have been quintessentially Pachteresque. An unashamed royalist, he is best known for his affectionate portraits of the Queen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most well known are the funny, notorious paintings of the Queen sitting astride a moose. They created a stir when \ufb01rst exhibited more than four decades ago, yet the anachronistic images have endured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie\u2019s depictions of the Queen are etched in some deep part of my brain and are part of the way l see the world and my country. They are the signs and symbols that form the strange mosaic of my identity as a Canadian. I suspect this is true for many others who embrace Pachter\u2019s art because it does tap into a deep vein of nationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many times during the ceremonies marking the recent Jubilee, I found myself in one of Charlie\u2019s worlds. In those moments, I came to appreciate this gregarious, talented man\u2019s art. In the painted passages, a profoundly rich, poetic, visual mind is exposed for the curious and imaginative viewer to enter and explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my many visits to his Moose Factory, I was always escorted on a tour of the studio and was introduced to the iconography of his imagination. Well trained as a painter and printmaker at Michigan\u2019s Cranbrook Academy of Art, Pachter brought a unique frame of reference, spanning two countries, to his practice. It also flew in the face of the tremendous force of abstraction and minimalism that held sway in Toronto\u2019s art world when he was starting out in the late 1960s. He dropped into the gallery scene at a time when imagery was being stripped from canvases, and replaced with spare, colour-saturated surfaces and self-referential meaning. Pachter was, and remains, a bold imagist, a poetic painter proudly describing a rich orchestration of \ufb01gures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through radical juxtaposition and his literate and visual sensibilities, Pachter adapted an expressive strategy analogous to what our best poets and novelists were doing. Like many of them, Pachter was a mythologist. His creative impulse extends from \ufb01nding, in the cultural heritage of his country, evidence of the fundamental stories that make us human: myths. For Pachter, life has an operatic dimension. He has devoted his considerable skills to rocking his audience with grand gesture, profound feeling, sensual overload and glorious, splendid expressions of being human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importantly, Pachter is essentially a nationalist, and this quality renders him one of our most compelling citizens. In his iconoclastic visual metaphors, I \ufb01nd myself luxuriating in their beauty and sensuality. I \ufb01nd new connections in their strange, jarring juxtapositions, and intently probing the nuances of his visual acumen, raging against his irreverence and nodding my head at the fundamental truths he reveals about how I see the world and people around me in the roiling odd home we call Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power and paradox of Pachter\u2019s art is the way you sense a national character simply by standing in front of his work. Against all efforts to challenge and confront it, a stealthy ghost animates the surfaces of his paintings and prints, as if conjured up in the stuff of their making, but emanating like ectoplasm. It is a spectre as old as the land I am standing on, or the factory l am in\u2014a true expression of who I am as a Canadian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a recent dismal winter\u2019s evening, I found myself in the bowels of Moose Factory listening to ragtime and belting out anthems in an impromptu chorus of passersby and neighbours. Surrounded by the raucous din, I lifted my eyes and looked around the rooms and studios. There, above me, were Pachter\u2019s representations and emblems of the elemental characters and places that made me who l was, at that very moment, in this place I call home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Smart<\/strong>\u00a0is a writer and curator, currently director of the Beaverbrook Museum, Fredericton. He can be reached at\u00a0tomsmart57@gmail.com<\/mark><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Charles Pachter\u2019s vision for the Huronia Regional Centre<\/mark><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.orilliapacket.com\/2015\/08\/24\/little-artistic-acorn-worth-the-investment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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http:\/\/www.thedailystar.net\/arts-entertainment\/exhibition\/fortifying-artistic-bonds-between-canada-and-bangladesh-1531318<\/mark><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201d The power and paradox of Pachter\u2019s art is the way you sense a national character simply by standing in front of his work. In his iconoclastic visual metaphors I find myself luxuriating in their beauty and sensuality. I find new connections in their strange, jarring juxtapositions. Pachter\u2019s creative impulse extends from finding, in the … Continue reading PRESS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-972","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/972\/revisions\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpachter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}