Otto Mueller

Otto Mueller (* 16 October 1874 in Liebau; † 24 September 1930 in Obernigk) was a German painter and lithographer. Today he is considered one of the most important Expressionists. He was the last member to join the artists' group "Brücke".

Otto Mueller was born on 16 October 1874 in the Silesian province of Liebau. From 1890 to 1894 he completed an apprenticeship as a lithographer in Görlitz. After this he began to study at the academy of arts in Dresden. In 1898 he changed to the academy of arts in Munich. However, he left the following year without graduating, as Franz von Stuck did not accept him into his class. The artist then returned to Dresden, where he made the acquaintance of Maria (called Maschka) Mayerhofer.
In 1900 he travelled to Italy and Switzerland with the writer Gerhard Hauptmann and his son Ivo. Through Hauptmann, Mueller meets important intellectuals, including Rainer Maria Rilke and Wilhelm Lehmbruck.

Otto Mueller and the "Brücke"


Otto Mueller married Maria Mayerhofer in 1905 and the couple moved to Berlin in 1908. In this year he creates his first slender girl figures, which will have a lasting influence on his oeuvre. Disillusioned by the rejection of the artists' group "Berliner Secession", he founded the group "Neue Secession" in 1910 with other rejected artists. He took part in the first exhibition of the "Neue Secession" in Berlin and met the artists' community "Brücke" there, which he joined the same year. In September 1910 he takes part in the extensive exhibition of the "Brücke" at the Arnold Gallery in Dresden. In 1912 Otto Mueller took part in the Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne.


From 1916 to 1918 Mueller took an active part in the First World War, first as an infantry soldier and later as a draughtsman in the airship department in Berlin. After the war, in 1919, Mueller was appointed professor of painting at the art academy in Breslau. In the same year he became a member of the "Arbeitsrat für Kunst" in Berlin. Two years later Otto and Maria Mueller divorced. In 1924 he married Elsbeth Lübke. Their son Josef was born one year later. After the couple separated in 1927, Otto Mueller married Elfriede Timm in 1930. On 24 September 1930 he died of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Obernigk pulmonary sanatorium near Breslau.

Otto Mueller's Expressionism


Unlike the other "Brücke" artists, Mueller was not inspired by French Fauvism. Standing in an independent expressionist position, Mueller creates works of impressive clarity and simplicity.
With the constant repetition of the pictorial motif, Mueller set himself the goal of remaining true to himself in all his works without boring the viewer. The artist uses glue emulsion as a binding agent, which creates the typical matt surface of his works. Instead of canvas, he uses burlap, as this allows the colours to dry quickly and soak into the fabric. Mueller typically outlines the childlike, angular bodies of his nudes in dark paint.

In contrast to many of his artist colleagues, there is no visible change in his work after the war, neither in form nor in subject matter. Only at the end of the 1920s does one detect a melancholy in some of the artist's works. With the depiction of covered wagons, huts, mothers and old men, the real life of the Gypsies moved into the focus of his work. A wistful and romanticised hope for the unity of man and nature runs through almost all his works.

Sources:
    - Elger, Dietmar (1991) EXPRESSIONISM. Cologne: Taschen Verlag GmbH

Akt unter Bäumen, , Watercolour, colored chalk and pencil on paper, 67 × 51,1 cm

1874
Born on 16 October in Liebau.
1890/1894
Apprenticeship as a lithographer in Görlitz.
1890
Birth of the son Eugen.
1894/1896
Studied at the Dresden Academy of Art.
1898
Studied at the Munich Art Academy.
1899
Leaves the Academy after Franz von Stuck does not accept him into his class. Returns to Dresden. Acquaintance with Maria Mayerhofer.
1900
Travels to Switzerland and Italy together with Gerhard and Ivo Hauptmann.
1904
Acquaintance with Paula Modersohn-Becker.
1905
Marriage to Maria (called Maschka) Mayerhofer.
1908
Moves to Berlin. Acquaintance with Wilhelm Lehmbruck.
1910
Participates in the exhibition of the "Neue Secession", Berlin. Joins the artists' association "Brücke".
1916/1918
War service first as active soldier, later as draughtsman in airship department in Berlin.
1919
Member of the "Working Council for Art", Berlin. Acquaintance with Irene Altmann. Solo exhibition at Paul Cassirer, Berlin.
1919/1930
Professorship at the Academy of Arts in Wroclaw.
1921
Divorce from Maschka and separation from Irene Altmann.
1924
Marriage to Elsbeth Lübke.
1925
Birth of son Joseph.
1927
Separation from his wife Elsbeth.
1930
Marriage to Elfriede Timm.
On 24 September he dies in the Obernigk lung hospital near Breslau.
1937
The National Socialists confiscate 357 of his works from German museums. The artist is posthumously deemed "degenerate".