Spotlight on painter Fred Wagner's family themes

The celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Philadelphia Sketch Club has been spotlighting Philadelphia artists active in the last century. That light just now is falling on a painter of the early 20th century in "Fred Wagner: A Family Perspective," opening at the Woodmere Art Museum on Saturday.

The emphasis here on family - rather than, say, on the industrial themes for which Wagner is known - makes sense. His display coincides with publication of the artist's biography, Fred Wagner: An American Painter, a 10-year project by his grandniece coauthors, Susan Smith and Cyndy Drue.

Family meant much to Wagner; although he married at age 53 and had no children, he was very interested in portraying his nieces' lives and activities. Moreover, the book brings out that the Sketch Club itself on South Camac's "street of clubs" became home to Wagner, so closely was he bonded to it and its artist members.

Wagner was born in 1860 in Montgomery County. His German immigrant parents owned, operated and lived in one of Norristown's largest hotels, the Germania, at 255-57 E. Main, where Wagner and his three siblings all eventually worked. In 1878, he entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as a scholarship student.

Remarkably, in his fourth year there he became a faculty member, the assistant in the anatomy department under painter Thomas Eakins; until 1886 he served as demonstrator of anatomy to the Academy life classes.

It seems obvious that the strong work ethic he'd learned as a boy had been confirmed under Eakins' guidance at the Academy, and he emerged as a hardworking, prolific painter in oil and pastel. But artistically he veered away from the Eakins influence and toward impressionism.

Wagner did teach for a while, at an art school he started in 1912 in picturesque suburban Addingham that was frequented by Sketch Club artists, notably watercolorist John J. Dull. After that, he devoted himself to painting. The Jersey seashore beckoned throughout his life, and he painted a great many summer beach scenes with children, and harbor and river views. The study of his work will be quite an undertaking.

What we see at the Woodmere is the brilliance of Wagner's response to nature, its freshness, and his ability to communicate atmospheric natural effects in sparkling colors. He zeroes in on motion, using free, energetic brushstrokes, and is unrivaled in painting watery expanses. These aren't mere sketches or imitations of nature. They capture a dignity and expressiveness in his understanding of figures in landscape, or just landscape - something he does here often, with tenderness and grace.

This is a lively exploratory show, an indispensable companion to the book. The Sketch Club will display some "Wag" industrial subjects Nov. 1-13.

"Artists' Summer Caucus" is a 30th-anniversary, 25-artist invitational show of 69 works at LaPelle Galleries. Featured are six artists new to the gallery - Milwaukee-born Reza Nahie-Ghanad, Patrice Poor, Brian Senft, Jessica Tyler, David Wilson, and Tristan Wright - and four who have been with the gallery three decades: Fred Danziger, Bruce Evans, Christine McGinnis, and Joe Naujokas.

See Wright's Evening Tram, Roland Beccera's Donna, and Mason Radar's feisty Walk Away From Trouble.

"In the Good Old Summertime" at West Chester's Art Trust Gallery features light and breezy works by seven Artists Equity painters. Inspired by warm summer light and cool summer nights, the standouts are Mary Kane's soft, billowy abstractions and Lois Schlachter's edgy yet somehow soothing semi-abstractions with figures.

This nonprofit gallery at art-friendly Meridian Bank, opposite the county courthouse, offers regular, changing shows of regional art.