Robert Müller-Alsfeld

Robert Müller-Alsfeld, self-portrait 1928

Robert Müller (born October 2, 1905 Alsfeld / Hessen; † May 1, 1994 ibid) was a painter, graphic artist and businessman. His works can be assigned to expressive realism . He signed “RM”, often in his late work by Robert Müller-Alsfeld .

Life

Robert Müller was born in Alsfeld as the son of Minna, née Freundlieb, and Ernst Müller, master shoemaker. His ancestors had lived in the same house since 1680 and always ran a bespoke shoe shop . At the end of the 18th century, with the start of industrial shoe production, a shoe trade was added . After primary school, Robert Müller attended the Alsfeld high school. Soon his talent for painting showed. Early preserved drawings and watercolors were created during the 14-year-old's excursion to Sylt . The experience of the elementary forces of nature caused a lifelong impression. He became a member of the Wandervogel movement early on , which promoted his powers of observation and love of nature. The painter Richard Hölscher (1867–1943), born in Alsfeld and a friend of his parents, attested to his artistic talent at the end of school. He advised the student to get an artistic education.

Gertrud 1936

In 1923 he began studying at the Offenbach am Main School of Applied Arts , attended evening courses at the Städelschen Institute , Frankfurt am Main and expanded his foundations in painting , graphics , woodcuts and linocuts .

• In December 1924 his hopes for a degree were dashed by the sudden death of his father and the resulting economic situation in difficult times. He was forced to drop out of college.
• 1926–1928 he completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Chassala shoe factories in Kassel .
• From 1928–1929 he took private painting and drawing lessons from the painter Wilhelm Danneboom (1894–?) In addition to his commercial activity in Hamburg . With him he dealt with figurative figures and portraits.
• 1934 marriage with Gertrud b. Kuhlmann, Darmstadt , seminar teacher for the technology of artistic textile design
• 1936 and 1939 birth of daughters Gisela and Helga
• 1937 Takeover of the mother's business
• 1939–1945 military service, a. a. on France's Atlantic coast near Cazaux ( Pilat dune ) and in the Hungarian Puszta

During the war, too, drawing and watercolors, dealing with the peculiarities of wonderful foreign landscapes, distracted him from military service far from his family. Small-format works were created, often the size of a field post letter, as a message and sign of life for the family at home. 1945 homecoming from captivity

Departure 1945

Robert Müller was a founding member of the "Working Group of Visual Artists Alsfeld-Lauterbach-Willingshausen".

After war and displacement , the destruction of the big cities, often with the loss of their apartment, studio and the entire artistic work, many artists found their first refuge and sometimes a new home in the rural Vogelsberg and Schwalm area. In addition to the struggle for survival in everyday life, there was a great desire for a joint artistic exchange and a fresh start between local and newly arrived artists. The circle included u. a. to: Erich Krantz (Bauhaus Weimar), Friedrich Kunitzer (Krakow Art Academy), Rudolf Karasek (Academy of Fine Arts Prague), Kurt Albin Bechstedt (Barmen School of Applied Arts ), Gert Böhme (Berlin State Art Academy ), Henner Knauf (United State School Berlin-Charlottenburg ), Karl Ortelt (Kunsthochschule Weimar) Ewald-Christian Tergreve (Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule, United State Schools of Fine Arts Berlin), Georg Bonn ( Städel-Hochschule Frankfurt / Main), Fritz Eisel ( Kunsthochschule Weimar , later director of the HFBK Dresden), Wilhelm Zastrow (United Free State Schools for Free and Applied Arts Berlin), Karl Weitzel . Many artist friendships develop.

Exhibitions and memberships

In 1946 the first group exhibition took place in the Hohhaus Museum Lauterbach and then in the Alsfeld school. The list of exhibitors bears the required control note: With special permission of information Control Division Fulda (exhibition permit from the Fulda military authority).

In 1947 and 1948 further group exhibitions took place in the Hohhaus Museum Lauterbach and in Alsfeld.

In the morning light - Alsfeld town hall 1976

Memberships

• 1947 membership in the professional association of visual artists
• 1967 Member of the Marburger Künstlerkreis-Kunstverein eV with solo exhibitions in 1968 and 1975, as well as participation in many group exhibitions
• 1969 member of “Fulda Artists”, participation in group exhibitions.
• 1974 Group exhibition "North Hessian Artists" in the Gallery for Crafts and Art, Kassel
• 1979 Art Prize “Prix du Jumelage” Chaville / Paris
• 1985 Solo exhibition in Fulda Castle.

Artist friendship with Prof. Ferdinand Lammeyer, Fulda and Bischofsheim / Rhön, former Städel director, Frankfurt am Main.

Müller-Alsfeld was also a member of the Malerstübchen Willingshausen association.

Further solo exhibitions

• Alsfeld Regional Museum ,
• Hohhaus-Museum Lauterbach / Hessen,
• Academy by the Sea Klappholttal / Sylt,
• UBS / SBG-Bank Leukerbad / Switzerland,
• Kurhotel Bad-Pyrmont,
• Bastian Glückstadt Gallery,
• Gallery Plänsdorf Hamburg.

• 1995 Memorial exhibition in the regional museum Alsfeld,
• 2006 Villa Svea, Hjo / Sweden,
• 2007 Weimar, City Library.

A recurring theme of his artistic work is the examination of the forces of the elements fire , water , air and earth , which, in his words, inspire "to make the invisible visible". During his extensive painting trips to the north with Iceland and the Lofoten , the Alpine region and southern European countries, he found inspiration for an abstract artistic language of forms using various painting and drawing techniques within the framework of his realistic creative method.

Works

The artistic estate comprises over 800 works;

Publicly owned works through acquisitions:

• State Building Authority Marburg u. Hess. Minister of Finance,
• Vogelsbergkreis,
• State Building Office Gießen / Oberfinanzdirektion Frankfurt,
• Museum of the Schwalm,
• Art Cabinet, Schwalmstadt-Ziegenhain,
• Kreissparkasse Alsfeld (now: Sparkasse Oberhessen),
• Alsfeld Regional Museum ( donation ).

Many works are privately owned. A selection of images can be seen below under "Weblinks".

Catalogs and literature

• Sieglinde Platz: Robert Müller-Alsfeld 1905–1994. 2005, ISBN 3-927284-38-6 .
• Carola Runge: In the art cabinet. In: Schwalm yearbook. 1984, pp. 153-159.
• Paul Schmaling: Artist Lexicon Hessen-Kassel 1777–2000. 2001, ISBN 3-934377-96-3 and supplementary volume .
• Valentin Thenner: Müller-Alsfeld. Catalog. 1975.
• Rainer Zimmermann: 25 years of the Marburg Artists' Circle. Documentation of the group exhibition. 1978.
• Jürgen Wollmann: The Willingshausen painters 'colony and the Kleinsasse painters' colony. 1992, ISBN 3-925665-16-1 .
• Rainer Zimmermann: Marburg painters paint Hessen. Marburger Künstlerkreis-Kunstverein (Ed.): 1972.

Web links

Commons : Robert Müller-Alsfeld  - Collection of images, videos and audio files