Mikael Pasternak Wall Decorations

Composition by Mikael Pasternak, 1920. Gouache on Paper, 62 x 51 cm. Mikael Pasternak (born 1905 in Riga, died 1967 in Virum) came around 1920 at a very young age to the Academy of Fine Arts in Riga, where he was trained as a painter and draftsman. On a study trip to Paris he met the young Danish girl, Anne Margrethe Petersen from Roskilde and married her in 1927.⁠ The couple lived in Riga, where Pasternak was a cartoonist for weeklies and newspapers. ⁠ ⁠ When Pasternak came to Denmark in 1935, he started drawing at Politiken's Sunday supplement "Magasinet", which had its heyday from 1922-1963. The magazine was very popular due to cartoonists such as Aage Sikker Hansen, Arne Ungermann, Ib Andersen and Mikael Pasternak.⁠ ⁠ In the beginning, he also decorated shop windows. During the war, the family lived in Hulby near Slagelse, and he was a regular cartoonist at Sorø Amtstidende.⁠ ⁠ Later, the family moved to Copenhagen, and Pasternak became a freelance artist. Among other things. he was a regular illustrator at Svikmøllen from 1946-1954 - and for many years he provided illustrations for Illustreret Familie Journal.⁠ ⁠ His postcard production is not large; but shortly after he came to Denmark around 1936-37, he made a series of lovely Christmas postcards...