Paintbrush and easel

by Dr. Lori Verderame

In the 1880s, Fred Wagner (American, 1864-1940) studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, PA with American realist master, Thomas Eakins. In 1884, he was named the chief draftsman of anatomy classes at PAFA, the nation’s oldest art school.

Paintings of traditional subjects presented in a realistic manner are characteristic of Wagner’s mature work. He painted portraits with ease and captured interior scenes of various subjects in and around the Philadelphia area. Following an illustrious teaching career, Fred Wagner opened his own atelier at the summer school of the Pennsylvania Academy’s located in Chester Springs, PA in 1912.

Fred Wagner’s paintings were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, the Carnegie Institute, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Wagner was included in the groundbreaking exhibition of 1913, the Armory Show in New York. Fred Wagner’s paintings are included in the collections of the James A. Michener Art Museum, the Reading Public Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Worcester Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Request an online appraisal of your Fred Wagner work of art from Dr. Lori.