PAUL WONNER
Born Tucson, Arizona,1920
Died San Francisco, CA, 2008
Education
1956 Master of Library Science, University of California, Berkeley
1953 M.A. in Art, University of California, Berkeley
1952 B.A. in Art with Honors, University of California, Berkeley
1948-1950 Subjects of the Artist School (later Studio 35), New York, NY
1947 Art Students League of New York, New York, NY
1941 B.A. in Art Education, California College of Arts and Crafts,
Oakland, CA (now California College of the Arts,
San Francisco)
Teaching
1987 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
1985 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1983-1984 University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
1982 Laguna Beach School of Art, Laguna Beach, CA
1981 California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
1978-1979 University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
1975-1976 University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
1975 California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
1973 Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, CA
1968-1971 College of Creative Studies, University of California,
Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
1965-1968 Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
1961-1963 University of California, Los Angeles, CA
1959-1960 David Art Center, Davis, CA
Awards
2004 Elder Artist of the Year, conferred by Eldgergivers of Napa
County in collaboration with di Rosa Preserve: Art and
Nature, Napa, CA
1960 First Place (later rescinded), Los Angeles All-City Art Festival
1958 Prize, Seventy-Seventh Annual Painting and Sculpture
Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association
1955 Second Prize, Fifth Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition,
San Francisco Museum of Art
1954 Walter Haas Award for promising young artists, San Francisco
Museum of Art
1953 Ann Bremer Prize in Art, San Francisco Art Institute
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Paul Wonner: Landscapes of Objects, 1966–2001, Berggruen
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2020 The Cone Family Legacy, Weatherspoon Art Museum,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC
2008 Paul Wonner: A Memorial Exhibition, John Berggruen Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
2007 Art20, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY
2004 Paul Wonner: Bay Area Elder Artist of the Year 2004, di Rosa
Preserve: Art & Nature, Napa, CA
2004 Paul Wonner: Forty Years of Paintings on Paper, John
Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Paul Wonner, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
2001 Paul Wonner: Selected Works from the Sixties,
Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings and Works on Paper, John
Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Interiors, The Gallery on the Hudson, Irvington, NY
1999 Paul Wonner, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
1998 Paul Wonner: Recent Work, John Berggruen Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
Paul Wonner: Still Lifes, Ettinger Gallery, Art Institute of
Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA
1997 Paul Wonner: Small Format Paintings and Watercolors,
1958-1965, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992-1993 Larry Evans Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
1992 Paul Wonner, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987-1988 Paul Wonner: Small Paintings on Paper, John Berggruen Gallery, The
Monadnock Building, San Francisco, CA
1987 Paul Wonner, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1985-1986 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings and Works on Paper, John Berggruen
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983 Paul Wonner, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1982 Laguna Beach School of Art, Laguna Beach, CA
1981-1982 Paul Wonner: Abstract Realist, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(October- November 1981); Travels to: Marion Koogler McNay Art
Institute, San Antonio, TX (March-May 1982), and Los Angeles Municipal
Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (August- September 1982)
1981 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Paul Wonner, University Art Museum, California State University,
Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
1980-1981 Studies for Romantic Views of San Francisco, James Corcoran Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA
1979 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings and Drawings, James Corcoran Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA
1978 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1975 Art Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
1974 Paul Wonner: Illustrations for an Imaginary Book of Poems Called "Lunacy,"
Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1973 Jodi Scully Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1972 Paul Wonner Paintings, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Paintings and Drawings by Paul Wonner, Charles Campbell Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
1971 Poindexter Gallery, New York, NY
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1969 Watercolors by Paul Wonner, Gump's Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1968 Recent Paintings and Drawings by Paul Wonner, Felix Landau Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA
1967 Paul Wonner: Oils and Watercolors; Still Life, Landau-Alan Gallery,
New York, NY
1965 Paul Wonner: Paintings, Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX
Paul Wonner: Watercolours, 1963-1964, Waddington Galleries, London,
United Kingdom
1964-1965 Paul Wonner: Recent Paintings, Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1964 Paul Wonner: Gouaches, Poindexter Gallery, New York, NY
1963 Recent Paintings/Paul Wonner, Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1962 Paul Wonner, Poindexter Gallery, New York
Watercolors: Paul Wonner, Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Paintings by Paul Wonner, California Palace of the Legion of Honor,
San Francisco, Ca
1960 Paintings by Paul Wonner, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1959 Paintings by Paul Wonner, Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1956-1957 Paul Wonner, San Francisco Art Association Gallery, California School of
Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
1956 Paintings by Paul Wonner, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum,
San Francisco, CA
1944 Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023-2024 Breaking the Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown, Crocker Art
Museum, Sacramento, CA (April-August 2023); Travels to: Laguna Art
Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (October 2023-January 2024); Dixon Gallery
and Gardens, Memphis, TN (January-March 2024)
1989-1990 Bay Area Figurative Art, 1950–1965, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(December 1989-February 1990); Travels to: Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (June-
September 1990), and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
Philadelphia (October-December 1990)
1967-1968 1967 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1964-1965 The 1964 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and
Sculpture, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1959-1961 1959 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney
Museum of American Art, New York, NY (December 1959-January 1960);
Travels to: Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN (January-February 1960);
J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (May 1960); Cedar Rapids Art
Association Gallery, Cedar Rapids, IA (September 1960); Brooks Memorial
Art Gallery, Memphis, TN (December 1960); and East Tennessee State
College Student Center, Johnson City, TN (February-March 1961)
1957-1958 Contemporary Bay Area Figurative Painting, Oakland Art Museum,
Oakland, CA (September 1957); Travels to: Los Angeles County
Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles, CA (November-
December 1957); Dayton Art Institute, Ohio (January-February 1958); and
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO (March 1958)
1955-1957 Pacific Coast Art, III Bienal do Museu de arte moderna, São Paulo, Brazil
(June-October 1955); Travels to: Mesbla Department Store, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil (October-December 1955); San Francisco Museum of Art
(June-July 1956); Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio (1956); Colorado Springs
Fine Art Center, Colorado (August-September 1956); Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis (October-November 1956); and Dayton Art Institute, Ohio
(December 1956-January 1957)
1955-1956 Vanguard 1955, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (October-December 1955);
Travels to: Stable Gallery, New York, NY (December 1955-January 1956)
1954-1956 Younger American Painters, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
(May – July 1954); Travels to: Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
(September-October 1955); Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA (October-November 1955); San Francisco Museum of Art
(November 1955-January1956); Los Angeles County Museum of History,
Science, and Art (February 1956); Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of
Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK (March-April 1956); and Isaac Delgado Museum
of Art, New Orleans, LA (April-May 1956)
Selected Collections
Anderson Collection at Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley, CA
California State University Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
Capitol Records, Los Angeles, CA
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco, CA
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Flood Family Collection, San Francisco, CA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Oakland Museum of California, CA
Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, CA
Pacific Bell Collection, Los Angeles, CA
The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, AZ
Philip Morris Corporation, New York, NY
Reader’s Digest Association, New York, NY
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NB
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
The Buck Collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Putt-McCann Art Collection
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Utah Museum of Art, Salt Lake City, UT
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
