One of the most influential artists from Wisconsin, John Wilde was a quiet leader in the contemporary art world. As a leader in the American surrealist movement known as Magic Realism, John Wilde stands out with his wonderful representation of Midwestern oddness and Renaissance perfectionism. Wilde was one of the great draftsmen of our time. He pushed formal realism into the bizarre world of the unconscious and personally intimate. (Images below)
Over 100 paintings and drawings by the artist are included in the collections of numerous museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Art, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, WI, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
In 2010 Wilde's work will be the subject of museum exhibitions at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin and the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Illinois.
Read what Art In America has to say about the artist in the review of the "With Friends" exhibition at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison in our PRESS section or read the artist's obituary from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
WILDEWORLD REVISITED, 1995, Oil on Panel, 33 x 52 1/4" - sold Collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum
THE THIRD EYE OF LOVE, 1942, Graphite on Paper, 17 x 11 1/2"
CHERRIES, 1953, Oil on Linen, 9 x 12"
S. DREAMING OF AN IMPOSSIBLE FUNGUS, 1977, Oil on Panel, 8 x 10"
GOOD THINGS: FIVE FUNGI, 1972, Graphite and Watercolor on Paper, 11 x 16"
NIGHTSHADE #4, 1998, Oil on Canvas on Wood, 19 1/4 x 13 1/4"
BLUE GRAPES WITH WHITE BOWL, 1986, Oil on Wood, 11 1/2 x 13"
UNTITLED (Wolf Biting Nude-no date), Graphite on Paper, 4 x 8"
EVENING LANDSCAPE, 1963, Oil on Panel, 5 3/4 x 6 3/4"
CURCURBITACEAE, 1999, Oil on Canvas mounted on Panel, 14 x 38"
AN HOMAGE TO RICHARD DADD, 1987, Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20"
STILL LIFE WITH THREE HAPPY APPLES, 1986, Oil on Wood Panel, 6 1/4 x 10 1/2"
UNTITLED (Two Carrots), 2003, Oil on Panel, 6 x 10"
CARROT PIONEER, 2003, Silverpoint and Wash, 5 x 9 1/2"
A GREEN PEPPER, 2003, Oil on Panel, 5 3/4 x 9 3/4"
LADY-BIRD SERIES #3 - MARY MOURNING DOVE, 1981, Silverpoint, 8 1/2 x 10" - sold
WILDEVIEW, 1985, Lithograph Ed. LXXXV, 23 1/2 x 25 1/2" paper size
William Nichols
