Born in Westwood, Massachusetts in 1908, Pickhardt studied in Boston with Harold Zimmerman and in Europe. Starting as a painter of the American Scene, in later life he moved to abstract figures and landscapes. In the WWII he taught combat airplane recognition to naval aviators. That experience contributed to his feeling for “forms in space” that led to his development of his “free form” artworks in the early 1950’s and the first exhibition of those works was held at the Jaques Seligman Gallery in New York in 1954. Pickhardt held teaching positions at the Worcester Museum School, Fitchburg Museum and the Art Student’s League in New York. Pickhardt was also awarded a Ford Foundation – American Federation of the Arts Appointment and as Artist-In-Residence at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, Texas. Pickhardt was a prize winning printmaker and draughtsman and is represented in many public and private institutions and collections./