Walter Pach

Walter Pach (July 1, 1883 – November 27, 1958) was an American artist, critic, lecturer, art adviser, and art historian who wrote extensively about modern art and championed its cause. Through his numerous books, articles, and translations of European art texts Pach brought the emerging modernist viewpoint to the American public. He organized exhibitions of contemporary art for New York City galleries of the period. He was also extremely helpful to Arthur B. Davies, president of the landmark exhibition of 1913, the "International Exhibition of Modern Art," known as the Armory Show, as well as to one of its founders Walt Kuhn, by bringing together leading contemporary European and American artists. Another original founder Jerome Myers spent over a year supervising the American portion of the show. Pach helped John Quinn and Walter Arensberg gather their collections. He also secured individual works for museums, such as a portrait by Thomas Eakins for the Louvre, and Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Socrates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pach's fluency in French, German, and Spanish made it possible for him to understand and interpret the avant-garde ideas developing in Europe and translate them for the English-speaking audience. He was able to communicate personally with many noted artists in Europe and Mexico and mediate between gallery dealers and museum curators on their behalf. His correspondence with major figures in 20th-century art are an important source of information, not only about the artists but about the art world during the first half of the 20th century.