83

PAUL WONNER

American, 1920-2008

"Bucket of Flowers and a Red Stool", 1991

acrylic on canvas
signed lower right "Paul Wonner", signed, titled, and dated on the reverse
47 3/4 x 47 3/4 in. (121.3 x 121.3 cm.), Frame: 48 1/2 x 48 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (123.2 x 123.2 x 6.4 cm.)

  • Provenance: Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York; Private Collection, Colorado
  • Notes:

    Born in Tucson in 1920, Paul Wonner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to study at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in 1941. After serving in the United States Army in Texas, he moved to New York, where he continued his artistic training at the Art Students League.

    In 1950, he returned to California and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Berkeley. During the 1950s, he worked as a librarian at the University of California, Davis, and in the 1960s moved to Southern California, where he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.

    In the Bay Area, his contemporaries David Park and Richard Diebenkorn provided friendly support for his work. Wonner emulated their style of painting with rich brushstrokes until the late 1970s, when he shifted toward crisper images emphasizing bright light and sharp shadows, focusing primarily on still-life themes. Although inspired by the Dutch masters, Wonner chose objects from everyday contemporary life as his subjects.

    The present lot is an example of Wonner's approach to still life. A bucket of flowers sits on a red stool, one that appears in several of his paintings, set against a surreal, undefined space. The hyperrealistic flowers evoke still-life paintings by Dutch old masters. The placement of flowers in an ordinary bucket and the cropped composition reflect the artist's contemporary approach to this theme.

    Wonner received numerous awards during his lifetime, and his paintings are held in the collections of several prestigious museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
  • Condition: in excellent original condition; unlined canvas

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    We are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Shannon’s is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Frames on all paintings are sold "As Is". Frames may need some conservation. 
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April 30, 2026 6:00 PM EDT
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