Three (3) Werner Wildner (Nashville, Tennessee, 1925-2004) graphite and watercolor on cardstock paintings depicting gnomes with smoking pipes. 1st item: Painting depicting a lithe gnome with tall Phrygian cap having a tassel, signed "W." lower center. Affixed to mat but unframed. Sight: 9 7/8" H x 3 7/8" W. Mat: 16" H x 9 1/2" W. 2nd item: Painting depicting a seated impish gnome wearing a Phrygian cap with bobble tassel and loop for his pipe, signed "W." lower right. Unframed. 12" H x 8 1/2" W. 3rd item: Painting depicting a smoking gnome with a large brimmed hat and large belt buckle, signed "W." lower right. Unframed. 11 1/8" H x 9" W. Biography: Nashville painter Werner Wildner, known for his fantastical paintings and drawings of whimsical, sometimes grotesque creatures, was known to joke that he was "the reincarnation of Hieronymus Bosch." Wildner was born in Germany but emigrated to America with his family as a child and, as by his teenage years, was living in Nashville. He served in the Army in 1944 and studied art briefly at the Meinzinger Art School in Detroit. He practiced commercial art in Nashville for a while, but by the mid-1950s had decided to pursue his own art career. A 1962 exhibit of his art at the Nashville art institution now known as Cheekwood led to greater renown as well as critical and commercial success. 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.

CONDITION: 1st item: Tape residue, en verso. 2nd item: Minute area of discoloration to upper center. Otherwise all items in overall very good condition.