Otto Mueller
Otto Mueller (Liebau 16.10.1874-24.9.1930 Obernigk) is one of the most important German Expressionist painters. From 1894 to 1896, Mueller studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. His wife Maschka Mayerhofer became his most important model and intellectual discussion partner. The characteristically angular facial features that his figures henceforth take on are based on her. Mueller moved to Berlin in 1908. He gained his first access to the Berlin art and cultural scene: in 1910, together with the artists of the Brücke in the Berlin Secession's Rejected exhibition and became a member of the group in the same year. "The sensual harmony of his life with his work made Mueller a natural member of Brücke," wrote Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1913 in the chronicle of Brücke. In contrast to the intense colors that characterized the group style at this time, Mueller used pale, earthy tones. He also used distemper and burlap, a technique that the other group members appreciated but did not adopt themselves. Their styles converge in their two-dimensionality and their preference for nudes in landscape.