Walter Pach

(American, 1883–1958)

Walter Pach (American, 1883–1958) was an acclaimed artist, critic, and art historian. Born in New York, Pach earned a degree in art from the City College of New York in 1903. He also studied drawing with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art, and traveled to Europe in 1903 to 1904 to study painting with William Merritt Chase. In 1907, Pach moved to Paris, where he befriended Leo and Gertrude Stein, as well as a number of the artists who he would later write about. Engrossed in the Parisian avant-garde, Pach played an integral role in organizing the 1913 Armory Show. After the exhibition, he wrote numerous books and criticism about Modern Art, including his monograph Vincent Van Gogh (1936), Queer Thing, Painting (1938), and The Art Museum in America (1948).