A life in three photos
Otto Mueller as a child, as a young adult and with Maschka.
Otto Mueller as a child
Otto Mueller as a young adult
Otto Mueller with Maschka
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Chapter Three: Contours – Biography
A changing world
The German Empire, the First World War and its horrors, the Weimar Republic, the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression: Otto Mueller could have been a chronicler of his time, but he preferred to focus on his favourite fields of interest, humans and nature.
Otto Mueller was not enthusiastic when he had to join the army in the summer of 1916 at the age of 42. He was first posted to Belgium, then to France – directly on the front line. His letters show that he was homesick, worried about his family, shocked by the atrocities of the war and longing to be alone.
Suffering from pneumonia, he was sent back to Germany for hospital care, which enabled him to paint again and sell some works. After recovering, he was posted to the Eastern Front, where he painted landscapes, Russian farmhouses and portraits based on photographs. He was in Berlin when the war ended in November 1918.
Graphic paths
Otto Mueller created a wealth of graphic works in Breslau, including that presented here, which figures him together with his then-partner, Irene Altmann. He had trained in lithography in Görlitz, and created his first own works in Berlin.
Living there from 1908 onward, he was inspired by fellow artists of the Die Brücke group and discovered graphic art as a lucrative market
Intersections
Otto Mueller was born in Liebau (today Lubawka, Poland) near the Giant Mountains. The adoptive parents of his mother Marie (1858–1925) were related to the writer Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946), who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912. Hauptmann introduced Otto to the world of culture early on and provided him with both financial and intellectual support. Carl Hauptmann, Gerhart’s brother and also a writer, patterned the main figure of one of his novels after Otto Mueller, and the fact that this character was the son of a Romani woman fuelled the legend that Otto himself was of Romani descent.
Otto had one brother, who died at a young age, and five sisters, including Emmy (1876–1962), to whom he had close ties. Long after the painter’s death, she wrote an unpublished biography that is all the more interesting because Otto himself left but little information about his life.
We know that he dropped out of grammar school and was admitted to Dresden’s Academy of Fine Arts in 1894, which he also quit after being criticised by his professors. He later returned to the education system, however, as a teacher.
The artist struck a relaxed pose for this picture, one hand in his trouser pocket and one eyebrow raised.
Otto Mueller created a wealth of graphic works in Breslau, including that presented here, which figures him together with his then-partner, Irene Altmann. He had trained in lithography in Görlitz, and created his first own works in Berlin.
Living there from 1908 onward, he was inspired by fellow artists of the Die Brücke group and discovered graphic art as a lucrative market.
“I’m reading a lot again now, mainly occult things. They are very mysterious, you just have to immerse yourself in them and they provide great peace and much strength.” (Otto Mueller)
Chapters: More about Otto Mueller
Basic concept – Close to nature
A constant – Partners
Colonialism – Black German history
Classic subject – Bathers
Context – Romani people
Kaleidoscope – Viewpoint
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