Ed Paschke 1939–2004
Nicknamed Mr. Chicago, Ed Paschke was born on the north side of the city in 1939. He attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), earning his BFA in 1961. Like many of his contemporaries, he made a living designing department store window displays and selling illustrations to various publications including Playboy. In 1962, Paschke was drafted into the army and stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana where his primary responsibility was drawing guns and bullets for weapons manuals, subject matter that would surface in his artwork later in life. Upon returning to Chicago, he reenrolled at SAIC and earned his MFA in 1970. During this time, he visited Andy Warhol’s first museum exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The exhibit had a profound effect Paschke, who viewed Warhol’s critical acclaim as validation for the Pop- Art influenced paintings that he was creating.
