Chair, 1960
Oil on canvas
54 ½ x 48 ½ inches
Artist Quotes:
“Eventually I realized that I could connect compositional elements with shadows. People thought that was strange, because the shadows were doing things that they couldn’t do naturally.” “Western Unorthodox,” Art and Antiques (October 2007 pp. 130).
“I began to feel as if Abstract Expressionism was talking about art, that it was always about the process. And I looked around me and I began to think that there are a lot of things in my life that I’d like to talk about in my painting. So I went outside and started painting Mt. Tamalpais, even though it still looked like Abstract Expressionism at first. The school thought I was out of my mind.” “Western Unorthodox,” Art and Antiques (October 2007 pp. 130).
Additional Links:
Paul Wonner at John Berggruen Gallery, artist’s page
This site includes Wonner’s exhibition history at Berggruen Gallery and the accompanying writing for those shows. The writing includes biographical information and information on Wonner’s style throughout his career. The site also has PDFs of selected press articles on Wonner.
California Landscape into Abstraction Research 