Michel Wagner

Michel Wagner was born on December 20, 1893 in Muschenried/Oberpfalz and died on December 3, 1965 in Munich. He was a German painter and sculptor, known as a member of the Juryfreie Kunstausstellung and the Neue Gruppe and is considered part of the Lost Generation.

As the son of the farming couple Georg and Barbara Wagner, he grew up in a rural environment, which later often appeared as a motif in his works. At the age of 15, he left his parents’ farm to begin an apprenticeship as a baker in Munich. There he also began to make his first drawings and sent some of them to Franz von Defregger, who responded encouragingly. In 1910, Wagner set off on foot from Munich to Hamburg, where he signed on to a freighter. When the First World War broke out, he enlisted in the navy.

After the war in 1921, Wagner decided to pursue a life in and with art. He further developed his self-taught skills by becoming a student of Lovis Corinth and Stanislaus Stückgold. As early as 1923, he exhibited his works at the annual art exhibition in Munich’s Glaspalast. This was followed by a study trip to Brazil in 1923/1924, which was reported on in the Kölnische Volkszeitung. After his return, he married the painter Else Säulen and settled in Hohenschäftlarn near Munich.

In the 1930s, Wagner was particularly active in exhibitions, but this came to an abrupt end after the National Socialists came to power. After the war, he took part in the first exhibition of modern painting in Bavaria, “Painters of the Present”, at the Schaezlerpalais in Augsburg. His works were shown in all western occupation zones until 1949. In the following years, he took part in various group exhibitions in Germany and abroad.

Wagner moved to Munich with his wife in 1952, where he died one year after her death. He bequeathed his house in Hohenschäftlarn to the Deutsche Künstlerhilfe.

Wagner was honored posthumously with the painting “Seiltänzer” at the special exhibition “Drei Jahrzehnte Neue Gruppe” at the Große Kunstausstellung München.

His works have been presented in numerous exhibitions, including the Glaspalast in Munich, the Kunsthalle Bremen, the Berlin Secession and the Städtische Galerie in Munich. His works can also be found in public collections such as the Bayerische Staatssammlung, the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden and the museum in Richmond, Virginia.