Three (3) Werner Wildner (Nashville, Tennessee, 1925-2004) works on paper depicting gnomes and books. 1st item: Watercolor and gouache painting with graphite on paper depicting a seated gnome with a feather hat reading a book. Initialed 'W" lower left. 2nd item: Graphite and watercolor painting on paper titled "The Book Imp" depicting a gnome attired in a green suit and blue hat leaping over the spine of a closed book with a blue ribbon marker. Signed "Werner W." lower middle. 3rd item: Watercolor and gouache painting with graphite on paper depicting a gnome attired in a red shirt, green pants, and straw hat with a feather sitting on the spine of a partially closed book reading. Initialed "W." lower left. All matted and housed under glass in contemporary frames. Sights ranging from 9 3/4" H x 8" W to 16" H x 10 3/4" W. Frames ranging from 13" H x 11 1/4" to 20 1/4" H x 17" 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 awhile, 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 1970's led him to become reclusive in the last two decades of his life.

CONDITION: All items in overall good condition, not examined out of frames. 3rd item has discoloration to mat from water damage on right hand side only slight effecting the work.