Mid-Century modern cubist horse painting by Wagner, Titled "Pferdegruppe"

View Similar Items

Grégoire Mathias - Taureaux et Cervidés – Wildlife Abstraction in Diachronic Cubism, by G. Mathias

Alexander Arshansky - A Figurative Cubist Acrylic Painting on Canvas, "Lucky"

Alexander Arshansky - Cubist Painting, "The Love Card"

Alexander Arshansky - Biomorphic Cubist Painting, "Black Rabbit"

Alexander Arshansky - Biomorphic Cubist Painting, "Gatoro Gato de Oro"

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "2 Blue Diamond Dust" Bunny Couple

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Purple Haze" Pink Bunny

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Coppersmith" Orange Gradient Bunny

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Barbara" Black Outline Bunny on White Background

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Morphos Coffee Field" Blue and White Butterflies

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Stanford" Black and White Bunny

Hunt Slonem - Hunt Slonem "Doves and Guardians" Blue Birds on Black and Silver Background

About the Item

Michel Wagner was first introduced to art at the age of fifteen when he attended the Bäckerfachschule, vocational school, in Munich. He began with drawing studies in classical forms, but later developed a mature Expressionist style. After completing the program at the Bäckerfachschule, Wagner traveled on foot to Hamburg and began working for a freighter company. While working for the company he traveled to Asia, Africa, North America and Spitsbergen in the Artic Circle. This exposed Wagner to a range of artistic trends around the world. In 1914 Wagner enlisted in the German Navy, allowing him to continue to travel and experience other cultures. It was not until 1921 when Wagner finally decided to pursue a career in art full time. He studied with Lovis Corinth in Berlin. Corinth himself had studied in both Paris and Munich, and was originally a self proclaimed Naturalist, but after a tragic stroke he became more adept in the Expressionist style. He was most well known for his synthesis of Impressionism and Expressionism, which gained him the position of the president for the Berlin Secession. This group of artists was founded in 1898 as an alternative to the more conservative state-run Association of Berlin Artists. It was through Corinth’s Impressionist and Expressionist style that Michel Wagner formulated his matured German Expressionism style. Wagner was first acknowledged as an up-and-coming artist in 1923 when he was showcased in the annual art exhibition in the Munich Glass Palace. Upon his admittance into the exhibition, Wagner was also inducted as a member of the Munich Artist Cooperative. After traveling to Brazil in 1923, Wagner had one of his first exhibitions abroad in the Konopacki Studio in San Paolo. A few years later he had his first comprehensive solo exhibition at the Hiller Art Salon in Munich. This exhibition gained Wagner favorable press, and ultimately made his name well known in the Munich art scene. Michel Wagner went on to exhibit in numerous other shows in Munich, Berlin and Bremen. His active participation in these various art communities gained him entry into the progressive art group Juryfrein. This group of artists was based out of Munich. They concentrated on art that was not bound to any of the traditional expectations of art—the artists’ works were free expressions. Some of the most well known artists from the group are Wassily Kandinsky, Gerhard Marcks and Charles Crodel. With the rise of the Nazism in Germany, cultural policies began to limit the type of art an artist was allowed to produce. Because of these strict limitations, Wagner stepped away from painting in oil and began a rather extensive career as a draftsman. In 1945, Wagner participated in one of the first Contemporary Art exhibitions after the fall of the Nazi regime. This exhibition took place at Schätzler Palace in Munich. Years later in 1958 Wagner’s work was included in the Jubiläumsausstellung, the Great Jubilee Exhibition of artists from Munich dating from 1869 to 1958. Throughout the rest of his life Wagner exhibited locally in Germany and abroad, in cities ranging from Nuremberg, Rutherford, New Jersey, and Rome. On December 3, 1965, Michel Wagner died in Munich, Germany at the age of 71. His work is still being exhibited around the world, most recently in Munich at the Galerie Bernd Dürr.

Creator:
Michel Wagner (1893 - 1965)
Creation Year:
1962
Dimensions:
Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 41 in (104.14 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
Medium:
Oil
Movement & Style:
Cubist
Period:
1960-1969
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Washington, DC
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU123825253802