{{short description|American visual artist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox artist | name = Merrill Wagner | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | other_names = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1935}} | birth_place = Tacoma, Washington | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | education = | field = | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = | spouse = {{Marriage|Robert Ryman|1969|2019|end=d.}} | partner = | website = {{URL|merrillwagner.com}} | alma_mater = Sarah Lawrence College }} '''Merrill Wagner''' (born 1935, Tacoma)<ref name="Merrill Wagner">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://www.merrillwagner.com/cv-mw |website=Merrill Wagner CV |access-date=3 March 2026 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> is an American visual artist. In 1953 Wagner graduated from Annie Wright Seminary (now, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Wright_Schools Annie Wright Schools]) were she went on to attend Sarah Lawrence. In 1957 Wagner graduated from Sarah Lawrence College.<ref name="University of Rhode Island">{{cite web |title=Looking at the Land: Merrill Wagner Paintings |url=https://www.uri.edu/news/2007/01/looking-at-the-land-merrill-wagner-paintings/ |website=University of Rhode Island |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref> She settled in New York City<ref name="New York Studio School">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://nyss.org/exhibition/merrill-wagner/ |website=New York Studio School |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref> where she studied with Edwin Dickinson and attended the Art Students League of New York.<ref name="University of Rhode Island"/> Wagner began her career working in the Minimalist style. Her later work incorporates representational painting executed on a variety of surfaces.<ref name="The Brooklyn Rail">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2022/11/artseen/Merrill-Wagner-at-Zwirner/ |website=The Brooklyn Rail |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |date=30 July 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429234144/https://brooklynrail.org/2022/11/artseen/Merrill-Wagner-at-Zwirner/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Artforum">{{cite web |last1=Madsen |first1=Kristian Vistrup |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://www.artforum.com/events/merrill-wagner-3-249875/ |website=Artforum |access-date=20 April 2025 |date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=27 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127154502/https://www.artforum.com/events/merrill-wagner-3-249875/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Wagner is a member of American Abstract Artists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Current Members |url=https://americanabstractartists.org/current-members-post/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250218123822/https://americanabstractartists.org/current-members-post/ |archive-date=February 18, 2025 |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=American Abstract Artists}}</ref>
Wagner's work was included in the 1971 exhibition ''Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists'' held at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum<ref name="Printed Matter">{{cite web |title=Lucy Lippard - Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists |url=https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/57416/ |website=Printed Matter |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref> and the 2022 exhibition ''52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone'' also at the Aldrich.<ref name="Aldrich2">{{cite web |title=52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone |url=https://thealdrich.org/exhibitions/52-artists-revisiting-a-feminist-milestone |website=The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=30 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330000607/https://thealdrich.org/exhibitions/52-artists-revisiting-a-feminist-milestone |url-status=live }}</ref> Her work is in the collection of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum,<ref name="Aldrich">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://thealdrich.org/page/merrill-wagner |website=The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=29 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429234115/https://thealdrich.org/page/merrill-wagner |url-status=live }}</ref> the Metropolitan Museum of Art,<ref name="Metropolitan">{{cite web |last1=Wagner |first1=Merrill |title=Untitled |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/853958 |website=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=20 April 2025 |date=1988}}</ref> the Smithsonian American Art Museum,<ref name="Smithsonian American Art Museum">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artist/merrill-wagner-5192 |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=16 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216225517/https://americanart.si.edu/artist/merrill-wagner-5192 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Whitney Museum of American Art.<ref name="Whitney">{{cite web |title=Merrill Wagner |url=https://whitney.org/artists/4717 |website=Whitney Museum of American Art |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=19 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419024654/https://whitney.org/artists/4717 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Wagner was the second wife of fellow artist Robert Ryman (1930–2019) whom she married in 1969,<ref name="David Zwirner">{{cite web |title=Now Representing The Estate of Robert Ryman and artist Merrill Wagner |url=https://www.davidzwirner.com/news/2021/now-representing-the-estate-of-robert-ryman-and-artist-merrill-wagner |website=David Zwirner |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=29 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429234742/https://www.davidzwirner.com/news/2021/now-representing-the-estate-of-robert-ryman-and-artist-merrill-wagner |url-status=live }}</ref> and with whom she had two children.<ref name="Art & Object">{{cite web |title=The House of Ryman: A Family of Artists |url=https://www.artandobject.com/articles/house-ryman-family-artists |website=Art & Object |access-date=20 April 2025 |language=en |archive-date=29 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429235426/https://www.artandobject.com/articles/house-ryman-family-artists |url-status=live }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Merrill}} Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from Seattle Category:20th-century American women artists Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni
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