Paul Wunderlich was born in Germany on March 10, 1927. He is best known for his prolific surreal eroticism works in painting, drawing, lithography and sculpture which are linked to the second generation of Fantastic Realists, sometimes called Magical Realists, who were inspired by dream imagery. The thematic for his sculptures and objects is closely linked to his paintings, drawings and lithographs. Wunderlich studied at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Art, graduating in 1951. He received the “Prize of the Youth” for graphics in 1961. With the prize money, he moved to Paris. In 1962, he worked in the workshop Deskjoberts in Paris. In 1963 he returned to Hamburg where he focused on lithographs and was very productive in that medium. From 1963 to 1967, he was a Professor at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg where he worked as a lecturer, teaching lithography and etching.

Wunderlich has been exhibited widely throughout the world. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Getty Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Musées des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Museum Ludwig, Köln, Museum Atheneum, Helsinki, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Kamakura Museum of Sculpture, amongst others.