Albert Lee Wagner

1924 – 2006

"A Kid In The Country. In 1938 Albert Wagner was a brawny hardworking youngster growing up in rural Arkansas. He lived with his three brothers and deeply religious mother."

"The Move to Ohio. It was 1941 and America had been attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. World War II had already raged for two years. Economic conditions were harsh in the South, so Albert and his family decided to move from rural Arkansas to urban Ohio"

"Albert Wagner Becomes a Folk Artist. Nearly a half-century had elapsed since his birth in 1924 when Albert began to paint. Now an adult, Albert was about to discover a new language, a new means to express himself."

"'Water Boy' (a memory picture) was only the beginning. A tremendous variety of diminutive, medium, and larger images emerged from Reverend Wagner's fertile visionary mind into inspired drawings, paintings, and sculptures, which often utilized stylized self-portraits as part of the message."
Painted Wisdom by Gene Kangas

The following paintings are featured in WATER BOY The Art & Life of Reverend Albert Lee Wagner.