62 - Müller, Victor (1830 Frankfurt am Main – Munich 1871), Half-Nude.

Müller, Victor (1830 Frankfurt am Main – Munich 1871), Half-Nude. Oil on canvas, with relining. Approx. 76 x 60.5 cm. Monogrammed lower right. Victor Müller was one of the most independent German painters of his generation and one of the most important mediators of French painting in Germany. He received decisive inspiration during his years in Paris from 1850 to 1858. There he engaged intensively with contemporary French art and made repeated stays in Barbizon. Gustave Courbet had a particularly formative influence; his realism and direct style of painting left a lasting mark on Müller. It was in this environment that the present half-nude portrait of a girl was created. An anecdote from his Paris studio, directly linked to the work, illustrates just how intensely Müller worked from the live model: When friends visited him there, he was in the midst of painting “a large mass of flesh with great zeal.” The subject is presumed to be his Parisian lover. Müller focuses entirely on flesh tones, light, and physical presence. His engagement with French painting later influenced a younger generation of artists centered around Wilhelm Leibl and Hans Thoma, establishing him as a pioneer of German Realism. Simona Hurst Bibliography: Lehmann, Evelyn, *Der Frankfurter Maler Victor Müller (1830–1871)*, Frankfurt am Main 1976, cat. no. II A 28a, ill. p. 113; Ruhmer, Eberhard, *The Leibl Circle*, Rosenheim 1984, No. 15, p. 128; Camion, Arlette/Hurst, Simona (eds.), *The Parisian Letters of the Painter Victor Müller*, Paris 2015, ill. p. 250. Provenance: Estate of Victor Müller; Peter Burnitz Collection, Frankfurt am Main, (1842–1886); F.A.C. Prestel, Frankfurt am Main, Peter Burnitz estate auction, March 9, 1914, Lot 66; Friedrich Mook Collection, Frankfurt am Main, (1888–1944); Alwin Steffan Collection, Frankfurt am Main; Private collection, Germany. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).