Paul Hermann Wagner first learned glass painting at the Josephinenhütte in the Giant Mountains. In 1875 he went to Munich, where he worked as a porcelain painter and attended the academy, which he received in 1881 from Wilhelm von Lindenschmit d. J. graduated.

His work is determined by sensitive childhood scenes that often capture a characteristic moment. Many of his paintings were made in Kochel am See, where he initially spent only the summer months, 1897 then moved apartment and studio quite there.