6809 - Müller, Richard

Müller, Richard "Fashion Novelty": Male Nude with Peacock Feather. Pencil. 45 x 24.1 cm. Signed and dated “Rich. Müller 1917 -” on the lower right; inscribed on the reverse in the artist’s own hand: “Modeneuheit / Irony regarding foreign art movements that / Germans like to imitate.” As early as the Middle Ages, the peacock was regarded as a symbol of vanity. In Richard Müller’s satirical drawing “Modeneuheit,” the peacock feather takes on a meaning that is as grotesque as it is revealing. Corinna Wodarz (op. cit., p. 245) initially describes it, somewhat cautiously, as an “extravagant garment.” A more detailed interpretation is provided by Franz Hermann Meißner, who analyzed the drawing in 1921 against the backdrop of the art and cultural debates of the time. The “irony directed at the various fashion trends”—as the author titles the drawing—depicts a muscular male nude seen from behind, headless but with a peacock feather in his rear end. This, he argues, mocks the German obsession with imitating foreign fashions. The mockery is apparently also directed at certain modern art movements, which must seem ridiculous to the steadfast artist. Meißner’s interpretation is clearly shaped by the aesthetic convictions of his time. The drawing not only mocks fashionable extravagances but can also be read as a scathing commentary on an art world whose new movements Richard Müller viewed with pronounced suspicion. As early as 1910, he had largely abandoned experimentation with artistic techniques. While Impressionism, Expressionism, and Abstraction were expanding their influence and Classical Modernism was gaining increasing recognition, Müller steadfastly adhered to a naturalistic, technically perfected conception of art. What the avant-garde saw as a breakthrough toward new forms of expression often struck him as a departure from the fundamentals of artistic skill. Müller also vigorously championed this stance in his teaching at the Academy. He sought to protect his students from what he saw as the overly simplistic path of “scribbling” and “splattering,” which, in his view, led not to artistic freedom but to dilettantism and anarchy. Just how forcefully he defended his ideas is described by his student George Grosz—with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship—in his autobiography *A Small Yes and a Big No* (Reinbek near Hamburg, 1955). With ironic respect, he recalls: “Professor Müller ruled with military rigor, a paintbrush, and a dozen deadly-sharp chalk sticks.” Against this backdrop, the headless figure in our drawing takes on a particular sharpness. The male model, who adorns himself with a foreign feather, appears to stand firmly on his own two feet, yet in a figurative sense has lost his head. The grotesque placement of the peacock feather heightens the satire to the point of absurdity: What was once a symbol of beauty, pride, and vanity becomes an emblem of thoughtless imitation. Müller’s stance could be summarized as follows: those who uncritically follow foreign fashions not only surrender their independence but also expose themselves to ridicule. Provenance: Inventory of Richard Müller’s estate. Lempertz, Cologne, Auction 605 in December 1984, Lot 869. Private collection, Southern Germany. Lit.: Franz Hermann Meißner: The Work of Richard Müller, Dresden 1921, p. 70, fig. 120, p. 119 (described as “irony directed at various fashion trends”). Corinna Wodarz: Symbol and Eros. The Visual Worlds of Richard Müller (1874–1954) with a Catalog of His Complete Works, Göttingen 2002, p. 245, Fig. 131, Cat. No. Z 1917.26 (titled “Irony on the Various Fashion Trends”). - Please ask for condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.