Forest Landscape (1921–22)

Otto Mueller prints bring the gentlest voice of German Expressionism into your home. A member of the Brücke group, Mueller painted slender figures at rest among reeds, trees and still water, in soft earthy colours that set him apart from his louder friends. Our collection gathers more than 120 of his paintings, drawings and lithographs as fine art prints, from lakeside bathers and dune scenes to portraits and his late Sinti and Roma series.

About Otto Mueller

Otto Mueller was born on 16 October 1874 in Liebau, Silesia, now Lubawka in Poland. He first trained as a lithographer in Görlitz, then studied at the Dresden Academy from 1894 to 1896. In 1898 he tried Munich, but did not get into Franz von Stuck's painting class and taught himself instead.

In 1899, back in Dresden, he met Maschka Mayerhofer. They married in 1905, and her angular face shaped the look of the figures in his paintings. In 1908 the couple moved to Berlin, and in 1910 Mueller joined the Brücke group. In 1911 he worked and travelled with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Max Pechstein, painting that year at the Moritzburg lakes and on the Baltic coast. He stayed close to Kirchner after the group broke up in 1913.

After serving in the First World War, Mueller became a professor at the Breslau art academy in 1919 and taught there for the rest of his life. From 1924 he made long journeys through south-eastern Europe to study Sinti and Roma life, sketching and taking photographs that he later turned into paintings and lithographs. He died in 1930 in Obernigk, near Breslau. In 1937 the Nazis removed hundreds of his works from German museums as "degenerate art".

Style and Subjects

Mueller returned again and again to one idea: people living in harmony with nature. His typical picture shows two or three nude figures sitting or bathing at the edge of a pond, half hidden by reeds and leaning trees. The bodies are long and slim, outlined with clean contours, and the faces have the angular features he first found in Maschka. He admired Egyptian art and compared his simple lines to it.

His colour is what makes a Mueller easy to spot. Where other Brücke painters used hot, clashing colours, he chose pale ochres, soft greens and muted blues. He painted in distemper (a glue-based paint) on coarse hessian, which gives a dry, matte surface rather than a glossy one. He also made around 170 prints, almost all lithographs.

Famous Works

• Frau im Boot (1910–1911), Brücke-Museum, Berlin. An early work from the year he joined the Brücke group.
• Three Bathing Women in the Pond (c. 1912), Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund. A classic Mueller bathing scene in distemper on hessian.
• Liebespaar zwischen Gartenmauern (1916), Brücke-Museum, Berlin. A couple between garden walls, one of the many paintings of lovers he made.
• Three Nudes in a Landscape (1919), Brücke-Museum, Berlin. Three figures set into the landscape, his central theme of people at one with nature.
• Landscape with Yellow Nudes (c. 1919), Museum of Modern Art, New York. Painted in oil on burlap.
• Zwei badende Mädchen (1921), Brücke-Museum, Berlin. Two girls bathing, a calm, intimate version of his favourite subject. Available as a print.
• Drei Akte (c. 1925), Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund. Three nudes in watercolour and coloured chalk, a work on paper rather than hessian. Available as a print.
• Gypsy Horse at Black Water (1928), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. A late painting from his travels in south-eastern Europe.

Decorating with Mueller Prints

Because Mueller's colours are so soft, his prints sit easily in calm rooms. The bathers and forest lakes, with their greens, ochres and pale blues, suit bedrooms, bathrooms and reading corners, and they pair well with natural wood, linen and plants.

His lithographs and drawings, such as the portraits of Maschka and the self-portraits, have a simpler, more graphic look. They suit a hallway, a home office or a gallery wall with other early modern prints. Many of his works show nude figures, so choose the room with your household in mind.

FAQ

What art movement was Otto Mueller part of?

Mueller was a German Expressionist and a member of the Brücke group, which he joined in 1910 and stayed with until it broke up in 1913.

What is Otto Mueller's most famous painting?

He is best known for his bathers: nude figures by ponds and in forests, such as Three Nudes in a Landscape (1919) at the Brücke-Museum and Landscape with Yellow Nudes (c. 1919) at MoMA in New York.

Where can I see Otto Mueller's original paintings?

The Brücke-Museum and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin both hold his work. Others are in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Museum am Ostwall in Dortmund and MoMA in New York.

How can I recognize an Otto Mueller painting?

Look for slim, angular figures with clear outlines, set among reeds, trees or water, in soft ochres, greens and blues. His distemper-on-hessian technique gives the paintings a dry, matte look quite unlike the bright colours of the other Brücke artists.

Why are some Otto Mueller works titled with "Zigeuner"?

From 1924 Mueller travelled through south-eastern Europe painting Sinti and Roma people, and his German titles use the term of his time, "Zigeuner". We keep the original titles so each print can be matched to the artwork it reproduces.

Related Artists

• Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: fellow Brücke painter, travelling companion and close friend, who painted Mueller's portrait in 1913.
• Max Pechstein: Brücke member who worked and travelled with Mueller in 1911.
• Franz von Stuck: the Munich teacher whose painting class turned Mueller away in 1898.