Two (2) Werner Wildner (Nashville, Tennessee, 1925-2004) works on paper. 1st item: Pastel painting with graphite, depicting a gnome in a blue suit and red hat with a large white beard smoking a pipe, seated on a large mushroom. Initialed "W." lower left. Double matted. Sight - 14 1/2" H x 11 1/8" W. Matted - 20" H x 16" W. 2nd item: Watercolor and gouache painting with graphite on paper depicting a gnome in a green suit and hat with a black and gold belt seated on a large mushroom. Initialed "W." lower left. Double matted. Sight - 14 7/8" H x 9 7/8" W. Matted - 19 1/2" H x 14 1/2" W. Provenance: Estate of Carl Klein, Brentwood, TN. 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.

Both overall very good condition. 2nd item: Some waviness to paper.