Carole Pinto Fine Arts

Wagner studied academic painting at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, followed by the prestigious Academie Julian where he rubbed shoulders with artists from all over the world.  After a rigorous training in technique, Wagner pursued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux Art in Paris where the renown painter Lucien Simon took him under his wing and trained him.

Wagner succeeded in exhibiting his work at the Salon des Independents as of 1925, the Salon d’Automne as of 1927, followed by the Salon des Independents in Bourges and Bordeaux.  Wagner was highly influenced by the Art Deco graphic designs and posters that were hugely popular in France between the two world wars, and sought to flatten form and reduce color modulation in his compositions.  He favored views of  the coast of Brittany, and he often depicted the life of the gritty local fishermen hauling in nets full of fish, their  friends families standing by ready to take the haul to market. 

This particular work was framed in 1930 by the prestigious frame maker Emile Bouche, whose intricately carved wooden frames made him one of the most successful artisans of his day.