Two (2) Werner Wildner (Nashville, Tennessee, 1925-2004) works. 1st item: Graphite drawing with watercolor titled “Congratulations” depicting a gnome kneeling before a bird with an egg. Titled and signed with monogram signature, lower left and right. Housed in a contemporary metallic frame. Sight – 9 1/4″ H x 8″ W. Framed – 10 1/2″ H x 9 3/8″ W. 2nd item: Oil on board depicting an upside-down golden mushroom against a dark background. Unsigned. Housed in a contemporary wooden frame. Sight – 2 1/2″ H x 2″ W. Framed – 7 3/4″ H x 5 5/8″ W. Mid 20th century. Biography (courtesy Askart: The Artists’ Bluebook): Wildner was born in Germany but moved to Detroit with his family as a child and then, as a teenager, to Nashville. He served in the Army in 1944 and went on to study art briefly at the Meinzinger Art School in Detroit. He returned to Nashville to practice commercial art, but by the mid-1950s had decided to pursue his own art career. Whimsical animals and fantastical, often grotesque creatures were a recurring theme of his work. Wildner met with critical and commercial success after a 1962 exhibit of his art at the Nashville site now known as Cheekwood. However, the death of his parents and collapse of his marriage in the 1970s led him to become reclusive in the last two decades of his life. Provenance: Collection of Charles and Ann Wells, Nashville, Tennessee. CONDITION: Both items: Overall excellent condition. Not examined out of frame.