Royal Outing, Print of the Preliminary Sketch

14 x 11" Lithograph Print by Frank Wagner

Ladies Day Aboard Britannia 1907

Britannia: A famous gaff-rigged cutter, built in 1893 for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII).

Born in Bay Shore, Long Island, NY in 1931, Wagner began painting when he was five years old. The skill he lacked in verbal communication became the drive that sharpened the ability that otherwise might have been overlooked. His formal art training was completed at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Pratt Institute, followed by a European Fellowship Grant for postgraduate work at the Rijksmuseum School in Amsterdam, Holland.

Like many well-known painters before him, Wagner began his career in commercial illustration. He had the opportunity to produce a great volume of work, which contributed to the development of a very direct style. There is a presence, an intimacy that draws his viewers into the atmosphere of his art. At the1988 Mystic International Exhibition, where he won an Award of Excellence, John Stobart commented, "This work is fresh and full of vitality. It has a uniqueness and powerful simplicity, and he does it in a way that hasn't been done before."

Marine paintings by Frank Wagner are in private collections, hotels and corporate offices around the world. He was included in that fortunate company of artists whose work sold as fast as it could be produced.

Moving to England in 1994m Wagner was invited by the Royal Exchange Art Gallery in London to exhibit his work in three separate one-man shows. His last major work was commissioned by the Royal Engineers, and it was officially presented by their Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in May 1996.

"I consider my work impressionistic realism," he said. "There is only realism. Abstract expression is simply realism in a microscope. The important thing is that what I do be good art. I hope with all my heart, time will prove that it is."