Vilhelm Pacht

Lauritz Vilhelm Pacht was a Danish genre painter, industrialist and philanthropist.

Biography

Pacht was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Laurids Adolph Pacht and Marie Caroline Jürgensen. His father was a book binder and cap maker. After his confirmation, he began to learn printing, but was later apprenticed to a marble chipper. While taking classes at the Copenhagen Technical College, his drawings attracted the attention of G.F. Hetsch
For several years, he worked to perfect a method to improve the reproduction of drawings by printing press. In 1872, he received a patent for his processes and set up a workshop for what he called the "Heliotype". Later, he also produced phototypes.
In 1880, he joined with the photographer,, to create "Pacht & Crones Illustrationsetablissement". Pacht left the company in 1885 and was replaced by the drawing teacher,. That same year, Pacht started the "Skandinavisk Panoptikon", a combination wax museum and cabinet of curiosities.
In 1887, he opened a factory that produced intaglio ink and paint tubes. In 1890, the company went public as an aktieselskab called the "Danske Bogtrykkeres Farvefabrik", but he continued as General Manager.
In 1896, he presented the first moving pictures in Denmark in a wooden structure called the "Panorama" at the square in front of Copenhagen City Hall. His building and equipment were lost to a suspicious fire, but he soon re-established his shows at his Panoptikon.
His activities made him a wealthy man, but also ensured that his output as a painter was rather small.
Just before his death, he and his second wife, Oline Kristine Marie Olsen, created the Vilhelm Pacht Foundation which awarded scholarships to artists and which turned his mansion, "Pachts Bo", into housing for indigent artists.
He died in 1912 at Holte.