Richard Müller (artist)

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Richard Müller with model in the studio (Photo Hugo Erfurth )

Richard Müller (born July 28, 1874 in Tschirnitz ad Eger [today Černýš , district of Perštejn ]; † May 7, 1954 in Dresden ) was a German painter and graphic artist. From 1900 to 1935 he taught as a professor of drawing at the Dresden Academy ; From 1933 to 1935 he was its rector.

Life

Richard Müller was born in 1874 in the Bohemian town of Tschirnitz an der Eger, the son of a weaver. His artistic talent was evident early on. In 1888, at the age of 14, he was encouraged by the Meissen porcelain painter H. Theil to apply to the painting school of the Royal Saxon Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen , where he was immediately accepted. In 1890 Müller went to Dresden on his own and without financial security. Here he was accepted at the art academy, although he had not yet reached the required entry age. His teachers were Leon Pohle , Ernst Moritz Geyger and Leonhard Gey . In 1895 he met the graphic artist and sculptor Max Klinger there , who encouraged him to deal with etching techniques . In 1896 Müller won the Grand Rome Prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts, endowed with 6000 gold marks, for his etching "Adam and Eve" .

In 1900 Müller, meanwhile as well known in Dresden as Klinger, received a professorship at the academy; his students included George Grosz , Richard Scheibe , Max Ackermann , Rudolf Schmidt-Dethloff , Erwin Bowien , Hermann Kohlmann , Horst Naumann and Max Hermann Mahlmann . Richard Müller was a member of the German Association of Artists . In 1933 he was appointed rector of the Dresden Art Academy and in 1935 dismissed from the rectorate by the Saxon minister of education, Wilhelm Hartnacke .

Richard Müller was a member of the NSDAP from 1933 . In 1935 he was excluded from the party on the basis of Section 4 (2b) of the NSDAP's statutes (premium arrears). He had provoked this exclusion by not paying the fee himself. As rector of the academy in 1933, he confirmed the dismissal of his colleague Otto Dix , which the Reich Commissioner von Killinger had tried to do in the spring of that year. Contrary to other assumptions, Müller was not actively involved in the Degenerate Art 1933 exhibition .

Nevertheless, Müller was highly valued as a painter during the National Socialist era . He was represented several times at the Great German Art Exhibitions in the Munich House of German Art , including in 1939 with a pencil drawing of Adolf Hitler's birthplace . In the final phase of the Second World War , Adolf Hitler included him in the list of the most important artists who had been gifted by God in August 1944 .

Richard Müller died in Dresden in 1954 at the age of 80. His grave is in the Loschwitz cemetery .

Works (selection)

  • Adam and Eve , etching, 1896
  • Nightmare , 1903
  • Archer , 1906
  • The young genius , 1906
  • After the game is over , 1906
  • Little Mice , 1910
  • A miracle of dressage , 1911
  • The rivals , 1911
  • My Quick , 1912
  • The dead Christ , before 1914
  • Reading monk , before 1914
  • Destiny , 1920
  • Self-portrait , etching, 1921.
  • Archer , 1922.
  • Cat with ball of wool , oil on canvas, 28 × 60.5 cm, Städel , Frankfurt am Main.
  • Circe , 1933
  • Two swimming polar bears , 1937
  • Child with Doll , 1946
  • Beethoven , 1951

literature

  • Müller, Richard . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 25 : Moehring – Olivié . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1931, p. 246 .
  • Müller, Richard . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 3 : K-P . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1956, p. 349 .
  • Arthur Dobsky: A master of drawing. Richard Müller and his work. With nine illustrations based on drawings and etchings by the artist. In: Reclam's universe. Modern illustrated weekly. 29 (1913), pp. 727-731.
  • George Grosz: A small yes and a big no. His life told by himself. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002, ISBN 3-499-11759-2 , p.?.
  • Rolf Günther: Richard Müller, life and work. Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1998, ISBN 90-5705-125-7 (with work and student directory).
  • Rolf Günther: The symbolism in Saxony 1870-1920. Sandstein, Dresden 2005, ISBN 3-937602-36-4 ., P.
  • University of Fine Arts Dresden (ed.): From the Royal Art Academy to the University of Fine Arts (1764–1989). The history of an institution . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1990, ISBN 3-364-00145-6 , p.?.
  • Kristina Hoge: Self-portraits in the face of the threat posed by National Socialism. Dissertation: Karl Rupprechts University Heidelberg 2004, p. 29 ff .; P. 41 ff. ( Full text : PDF 1 , 2 [Appendix, 58 MB]).
  • Jörg Krichbaum, Rein A. Zondergeld: DuMont's Lexicon of Fantastic Painting. DuMont, Cologne 1977, ISBN 3-7701-0908-2 , p.?.
  • Franz Hermann Meissner (Ed.): The work of Richard Müller. 175 images and text. Adrian Lukas Müller, Loschwitz-Dresden 1921 ( table of contents PDF).
  • Corinna Wodarz: Art propaganda in the GDR: Müller contra Dix, How the art propaganda in the GDR subsequently created hostility. In: Central German Yearbook for Culture and History Edited by the Central German Cultural Council Foundation. Volume 4, 1997, pp. 153-162.
  • Corinna Wodarz:  Müller, Richard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , pp. 471-473 ( digitized version ).
  • Corinna Wodarz: Symbol and Eros. The imagery of Richard Müller (1874–1954) with the catalog of the complete works (= Göttingen Contributions to Art History, Volume 1). Duehrkohp and Radicke, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-89744-193-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Karl Pesch: Erwin Bowien . Ed .: Bettina Heinen-Ayech. 1st edition. Solingen 1980, p. 27 .
  2. ↑ kuenstlerbund.de: Ordinary members of the German Association of Artists since it was founded in 1903 / Müller, Richard ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on November 19, 2015).
  3. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 422.
  4. ↑ Richard Müller: Mirror images of decay in art. In: Dresdner Anzeiger . September 29, 1933 wrote about Dix on the occasion of the Degenerate Art exhibition in Dresden: “What a grave guilt some people took on when they called this man of all people as a teacher at the art academy and thus exposed the youth to his poisoning influence for years, an activity who was brought to a well-deserved end by his dismissal in the spring of this year. "(Hoge p. 29 f.)
  5. ↑ He only wrote the mentioned article in the Dresdner Anzeiger: Collection of documents on Müller .
  6. ↑ Thieme-Becker incorrectly names 1930 as the year of death; Vollmer correctly names the year 1954.
personal data
SURNAME Müller, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 28, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Tschirnitz
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 1954
Place of death Dresden