Edmund Wuerpel

American (1866-1958)

Well known for his atmospheric landscapes, Edmund Henry Wuerpel was the Dean of the St. Louis School of Fine Art and Dean Emeritus at Washington University. He studied at Washington University School of Fine Art and then continued his studies in Paris at the Academie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. It was in Paris that Wuerpel became friends with James McNeil Whistler. His Tonalist style of painting, unusual for a painter of his time living in the Midwest, was likely influenced by Whistler.

Wuerpel was a member of the American Art Association in Paris, St. Louis Art League and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. He exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco, and the St. Louis Art Guild.

Wuerpel’s work is in numerous public collections, including the Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis; Buenos Aires Museum; and the St. Louis Art Museum.