Edmund H. Wuerpel

Edmund H. Wuerpel was born on May 13, 1866, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1886, Wuerpel studied art at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts at Washington University, and in 1889 he went to Paris to attend the Académie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux Arts. There he studied with William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Lucien Doucet. He also studied and made copies of paintings at the Musée du Luxembourg. Wuerpel met artist James McNeill Whistler while in Europe, and was influenced by Whistler’s artistic style. In 1892, Wuerpel exhibited a portrait at the Paris Salon.

While he was living in Europe, Wuerpel was the secretary for the International Jury of Selection and Award for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892 and 1893. For this position, he traveled throughout Europe with Halsey C. Ives. After his return to St. Louis, Wuerpel also served on the juries for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. 

Wuerpel began his career in St. Louis as an instructor at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts in 1894. He was named the second director of the school in 1909. After his retirement in 1938, Wuerpel was named Dean Emeritus.

Wuerpel’s work was in a tonalist style, painting landscapes, portraits and murals. He was considered one of the leading landscape painters in St. Louis at the time. Wuerpel’s mural Hahatonka, in the Missouri State Capitol building, was painted in the early 1920s. He also painted murals for the new building of the Missouri Athletic Association, which was completed in 1916. In 1905, he restored mural paintings in the St. Louis Courthouse. Wuerpel served on the Fine Arts Committee of the St. Louis Civic League in 1911. He wrote art reviews for The Nation and The Boston Transcript, and lectured about art to various groups. He also participated in numerous exhibitions. 

Wuerpel was involved in many artist organizations, including the St. Louis Society of Independent Artists, St. Louis Art League, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. He was a charter member of the Two-By-Four Society. He helped organize the American Art Association in Paris in the 1890s. 

Edmund H. Wuerpel died on February 24, 1958, in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.