701 - Georg Müller (1880 – Munich – 1952)

Georg Müller (1880 – Munich – 1952) Standing Figure Bronze, with a golden-brown patina. 1937. Height approx. 94 cm (base approx. 24 x 24 cm). Signed and dated on the back right of the plinth. Bears the foundry mark “GUSS v. A. BRANDSTETTER MÜNCHEN” on the rear side edge. Presumably a one-of-a-kind piece. Bears an Italian customs label on the underside reading “Merci Visitate, Dogana Italiana.” Born in Munich in 1880, Georg Müller moved to the United States with his parents at the age of 6 and grew up in Chicago. In 1900, he returned to Europe, worked at the Paris World’s Fair, and subsequently studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Wilhelm von Rümann, among others. He became a member of the Munich Secession and was awarded the gold medal at the International Art Exhibition in Munich in 1913. With various portrait busts—including one of the composer Max Reger—as well as sculptures for public spaces, such as the Bear Fountain in Munich’s Schwabing district, Müller made a name for himself in the 1920s and 1930s, particularly in southern Germany. “The Standing Figure” was exhibited at the Great German Art Exhibition in 1937 and was later shown at the Venice Biennale. Works by Georg Müller are held in the collections of the Lenbachhaus and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, among others. Exhibition: Great German Art Exhibition, Haus der deutschen Kunst, Munich 1937, Hall 8; Subsequently, Venice Biennale. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).