Paul Wunderlich

Aida Met Opera Poster

1978

Paul Wunderlich is a German artist well-known for his Surrealist paintings and erotic sculptures. He was one of the most important members of the Magic Realist circle of artists. While his earliest works represented scenes of oppressive history during World War II in Germany, he later found inspiration in Surrealist artworks with sexual references and fantastic floating forms. Wunderlich studied graphic art at the Landeskunstschule in Hamburg, where he became an art teacher. During that time, he learned printmaking techniques from artists like Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka. Wunderlich also began experimenting with the free-form, Expressionist style of Tachisme, but then he focused on the figurative again. He lived between Hamburg and France until his death. Today, many of his works belong to the collections of the biggest international museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York, La Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, and the British Museum in London.