Pach Brothers

Three of the four Pach brothers (left to right): Gustavus W. Pach, Oscar Pach, and Gotthelf Pach

The Pach Brothers was a family-run photography studio by German-born brothers Gustavus and Gotthelf Pach. The brothers photographed portraits of many notable figures including former United States president Benjamin Harrison and American banker George Foster Peabody. The brother Gotthelf is the father of famed German-American painter Walter Pach.

History

It was founded by the German-born brothers Gustavus Pach (1848–1904), Gotthelf Pach (1852–1925) and Morris Pach (1837–1914). Patrons included famous and ordinary Americans involved in business, politics, government, medicine, law, education, and the arts, as well as thousands of students, families and children who sat for Pach cameras from 1866 onward.

A fire in 1895 destroyed their New York studio and processing rooms as well as their entire negative archive.

The Pach Brothers firm continued photographing for another hundred years until their dissolution in 1994.

Gallery

• 
  1896 photo of by-then-former United States President Benjamin Harrison, including their copyright notice
• 
  1903 Pach Brothers colorized photo of President Theodore Roosevelt and his family with copyright notice on the left side
• 
  1907 Pach Brothers photo of George Foster Peabody
• 
  1908 cabinet card of William Howard Taft
• 
  1912 portrait of President Woodrow Wilson

External links

• Guide to the Pach Brothers Portrait Photograph Collection: 1867–1947, undated (bulk 1880s–1940s)
• The Pach Brothers Portrait Photograph Collection at the New York Historical Society