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From Generation To Generation Noted Portland artist helps organize milestone exhibit of father’s works by Scott Harris An exhibit currently open to the public at the Oregon Jewish Museum is a prime illustration of a proud son honoring the legacy of his father, while giving others the chance to look at the handiwork done by a local father and son. The illustrations featured in the exhibit are the handiwork of Jaap Pander, father of celebrated Oregon artist Henk Pander. The paintings and drawings depict biblical subjects including Abraham with Jacob and Esau, Samson and Delilah, and Lot and his daughters. Museum Director Judy Margles said Henk Pander approached the museum about featuring the works, an opportunity for which Margles said she feels fortunate. “[Henk] was aware of our museum and was interested in us,” Margles said. “This is a great opportunity for us — [Jaap’s] paintings are breathtaking. It’s almost like having a Rembrandt exhibit here. [Jaap] is just a master.” This oil on linen painting by Jaap Pander titled "Lot and his Daughters" was created around 1947 and is one of dozens of biblical images currently on display at the Oregon Jewish Museum in Portland. Altogether, the exhibit, titled “Imagining the Bible: The Vision of Jaap Pander,” contains 38 pieces ranging from oil paintings to watercolors to charcoal drawings. In addition to paintings by Jaap Pander (pronounced “Yop Ponder”), the museum also is displaying two portraits of Jaap painted by Henk Pander, as well as Jaap Pander’s sketchbooks and even a 1936 letter Jaap wrote to his wife, in which he lampoons a group of Orange Guard fascist soldiers. Jaap Pander’s work is the first by a non-Jewish artist ever to be featured at the Oregon Jewish Museum. Margles said they chose to display his work because of his anti-Nazi activism before and during World War II, during which many of his illustrations decrying Hitler and Nazism were reproduced in underground posters and pamphlets. “He lived through the Resistance, and a lot of his work done during World War II really depicts one person’s anguish and despair in the face of everything that was going on around him,” Margles said. Jaap Pander was born in Garijp, Netherlands in 1911, the son of a peat moss shipper. Pander created his first paintings and sketches as a child while living on a small wooden sailing ship with his parents and nine siblings. A deeply religious man, Pander created many biblical and religious images which are displayed in museums and calendars around the world. He died in 1962, but not before inspiring his children to make art a part of their lives, including his oldest son, Henk, who resides in Portland, Ore., and exhibits at galleries throughout the area. Margles credits Henk Pander for being “instrumental” in developing the exhibit. Henk’s sons, Jacob and Arnold, have sustained the family’s artistic tradition by carving out niches for themselves with experimental films and illustrated novels. “Imagining the Bible: The Vision of Jaap Pander” opened at the Oregon Jewish Museum on Sept. 4, and will run through Jan. 4. Admission is free for museum members, and $3 for non-members.