S. Peter Wagner, St. Petersburg. Oil on canvas, 20 by 28 inches.
S. Peter Wagner, an architect and artist from Washington, D.C., was a charter member of the Art Club of St. Petersburg. Wagner made St. Petersburg his winter home for more than thirty years. Best known for his watercolors, he was also a skilled oil painter and etcher. Wagner exhibited frequently throughout Florida and received awards in local and state-wide shows. The Tampa Tribune, March 25, 1923 reviewed Wagner’s exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Art, “All of Wagner’s pictures are good, but his watercolors are pretty generally admired more than his other productions. Mr. Wagner has a pure, clean, spontaneous watercolor technique that is just the thing that every watercolor student strives for. The Wagner pictures look as though the making had been a real joy to the artist, there is no toiling for effect visible, and many of the happiest touches look quite accidental. This is one of the most delightful collections ever shown here.”
Eve Alsman Fuller, art editor of the St. Petersburg Times wrote, “S. Peter Wagner, who is showing thirty-four pictures at the Art Club gallery, Beach Drive and Second Avenue North, is a real water colorist. He paints rapidly and well, with beauty and inspiration. And his brush tells the story of years of careful training, study and experience.”
Fuller reviewed Wagner’s work in the Times on April 13, 1930, “S. Peter Wagner… is showing one oil painting and three watercolors. The oil painting will be especially interesting, because one is privileged to see so few of Mr. Wagner’s paintings in this medium, and also because it is a bold yet finished picture, the charm of the subject of which, would be lost by a less careful artist. It is a view of an old house in Georgetown, a rather run down and deserted old house, which nevertheless refuses to give up its charm or the importance of its history. Mr. Wagner, who has been a winter resident of St. Petersburg for many years, is a member of the outstanding art organizations of America. He is one of the best known of the Washington group of artists, where he has had much of his training and where he makes his summer home. He is best known for his work in watercolor and especially in the past few years has gained national repute for his work in this medium.”
Wagner gave a talk to the Students’ Art Club of Tampa on January 19, 1938, As An Artist Sees Florida. He described Florida on first impression as, “A great open space of peace in whose color you have poetry.” During summer months Wagner had a school of art, Hatch House, in Damariscotta, Maine.
Born: Rockville, Maryland.
Education: George Washington University, Architectural Design; Corcoran School of Art; with Henry Moser in Washington; Art Students League NYC; with Paul Pascall; James H. Miser.
Membership: Art Club of St. Petersburg, charter member; Florida Federation of Art; American Water Color Society; Washington Water Color Society; Society of Washington Artists; Arts Club of Washington; Landscape Club of Washington; Southern States Art League; American Federation of Arts; Salmagundi Club, NYC.
Exhibits: Art Club of St. Petersburg, at the Carreno Club, March 1921, twenty-three watercolors and pastels; American Federation of Arts, Washington, D.C., May 1922; Tampa Museum of Art, Students’ Art Club, March 1923, a large group of watercolors and oils, including, Sunset in Florida; Society of Washington Artists, 32nd Exhibit, February 1924, Egyptian Lotus; Florida Art School, St. Petersburg, March 1925; Art Club of St. Petersburg, 5th Annual Exhibit, February 1927; Art Club of St. Petersburg, watercolors and etchings of local points of interest, March 1928; Art Club of St. Petersburg, June 1928, watercolors and oils, including, Mandy’s Wash (street scene, black section, St. Petersburg); Florida Federation of Art, 1st Annual Convention and Exhibit, Gainesville, March 1928, 1st award, still life, Egyptian Lotus; Florida Federation of Art, 1929, 2nd Annual Convention and Circuit, Darky Town; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1930; Corcoran Gallery, 1930, place of honor, Tides of the Maine Coast; Art Club of St. Petersburg, February 1930, one man show thirty-four paintings, watercolors, Wash Day, Darkeytown, Tidal Pools in Florida, Sails on the Gulf of Mexico, Wild Ducks in Florida, oil, Fishing Boats in Tampa Bay; Art Club of St. Petersburg, April 1930; Florida Federation of Art, annual circuit, Tampa Art Institute, Municipal Auditorium, Tampa, January 1931; Art Club of St. Petersburg, March 1931, twenty-one watercolors and oils, Tides On The Coast of Maine; Florida Federation of Art, Annual Circuit, April 1933, best watercolor, Wharves at Eastport-Maine; Art Club of St. Petersburg, April 1933, watercolors, Repairing the Old Fish House, Sunlight, Evening, Snapper Boats, Tarpon, Wood Ducks; Florida State Fair, Tampa, November 1935, watercolor, The Sea; Florida Federation of Art, 9th Annual Exhibit, Tampa, November 1935, best watercolor, professional, The Sea, chosen for annual circuit; Students’ Art Club, Tampa, March 3, 1937; Florida Watercolor Society, 2nd Annual Members Exhibit, Palm Beach, January 1940; Society of The Four Arts, 3rd Annual, January 1941, watercolors, Village by the Sea, Evening on the Lake, Home, The Old Ice Houses; Florida Watercolor Society, 3rd Annual Exhibit, Society of The Four Arts, Palm Beach, January 1942, Camp, Racing Waters, Evening, Farm Life; Landscape Club, Washington, D.C., 1944, 1st prize, Spring Planting; Art Club of St. Petersburg, January 1945, one man show, twenty-five pictures; Art Club St. Petersburg, 1949; Clearwater Art Group, March 1950; Art Club of St. Petersburg, Members’ Jury Show, January 1957, watercolor, Spirit of The Season; Tampa Municipal Museum, 1957, one man show, twenty-five watercolors, Lighthouse Town.
Directory: Listed in the St. Petersburg City Directory, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1936, as a commercial artist with a studio at 611 Jerome Street North.
