Werner Wildner (Nashville, Tennessee, 1925-2004), two matted watercolor paintings, one of a gnome, standing on tiptoe, balancing a ball on lifted leg, a feather atop his hat, 10″ x 7″ sight, 15″ x 12″ matted; the other of a bird with back to the viewer and wearing a cloak and hat, carrying a walking stick. 10″ x 8″ sight, 14″ x 12″ matted. Both on cardstock and signed with monogram signature lower left. 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 1970’s led him to become reclusive in the last two decades of his life. Provenance: Florida collection, acquired directly from the artist. Condition: Both in very good condition. CONDITION: Both in very good condition.