Vilhelm Pacht

Lauritz Vilhelm Pacht (23 November 1843 – 20 May 1912) was a Danish genre painter, industrialist and philanthropist.

Biography Pacht was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Laurids Adolph Pacht (1819–1868) and Marie Caroline Jürgensen (b. 1823). 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 (1788–1864, who advised him to take up porcelain painting. After completing his courses, he was given a position at the Royal Porcelain Factory, which he held from 1862 to 1867.

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" (a process similar to hectography).

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.

Just before his death, he and his second wife, Oline Kristine Marie Olsen (1868-1928), created the Vilhelm Pacht Foundation (Vilhelm Pachts Kunstnerboligs Legat) which awarded scholarships to artists and which turned his mansion, "Pachts Bo", into housing for indigent artists. He died in 1912 at Holte.