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Mercer County Historical Society
Pictured is Joseph Pfister, an accomplished international artist of the 1920s, '30s and '40s. At the age of two his family moved to Celina.
Joseph Pfister was an accomplished international artist, commissioned to paint some of the most famous personalities of the 1920s, '30s and '40s.
He considered his painting of World War II ace Captain Don Gentile to be his best work. His painting of Judge Henry Miller is in the Court of Common Pleas at the Mercer County Courthouse. The work was given to the courthouse in 1939 when Judge Miller retired.
Pfister was born in Newport, Kentucky, in 1895, just across the river from Cincinnati. His family moved to Celina when he was 2 years old. Research indicates that Joseph Pfister had strong ties with the Pulskamp family of Mercer County.
Pfister received his early education at Immaculate Conception School and then attended the Art Institute of Chicago for three years before enlisting in the Army in June of 1917.
During World War I, Pfister's job was to photograph and sketch German positions from an observation plane. Such planes were, naturally, a favorite target of German fighter planes.
After the war, Pfister stayed in France to study art and made himself well known with his portrait of George Clemenceau, titled "The Old Tiger of France."
Returning to the United States, Pfister studied anatomy at the Flower Hospital in New York City. He eventually had art studios in Chicago, Cincinnati and Mercer County. He painted the Ascension for the dedication of the new Immaculate Conception High School in 1933.
Upon his death in Cincinnati on Aug. 16, 1952, he was buried at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Cemetery in Celina.
Pfister's painting of Winifred Johnson Reiser is in the front parlor of the Riley House museum. It also has five of his paintings. The museum is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and is located at 130 E. Market St., Celina. Admission is free.
