Paul Wonner  (American, 1920) 

Paul John Wonner (American, 1920–2008), an Abstract Expressionist and member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, was born in Tuscon, AZ, and spent most of his life in California. Wonner received a BA in 1941 from the California College of Arts and Crafts, before he was drafted into military service. After his service, he continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a BA in 1952, a MA in 1953 and an MLS in 1955. Wonner worked as a librarian at UC Davis in the 1950s, and taught at the Otis Art Institute and UC Santa Barbara in the 1960s. With support from other Bay Area Figuration artists, including David Park (American, 1911–1960), Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922–1993), and his longtime partner Theophilus Brown (American, 1919–2012), Wonner drew on inspiration from Baroque-style Dutch still lifes, and Cubist painting. Full of color and often described as dreamlike, his work tended to be more expressionistic in his earlier career, and moved toward a hyper-realist style in later years. Known primarily for his still lifes, Wonner’s work is included in public collections around the United States, such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Represented exclusively by John Berggruen Gallery, Wonner had many solo shows at galleries and museums around California, and the United States.