CARL FRIEDRICH MORITZ MÜLLER, ALSO KNOWN AS “FEUERMÜLLER”, 1807 DRESDEN – 1865 MUNICH REMEMBER THE POOR Oil on canvas. Relined. 139 x 119 cm. Signed, with place name Munich and dated 1860 lower left. The painter’s nickname “Feuermüller” [Fire Müller] arose due to the atmospheric effects employed by him to immerse his nocturnal genre paintings in candlelight. This type of depiction was by no means a novelty in painting. Painters such as Georges de la Tour and the group of “candlelight” painters, and then Gottfried von Schalcken, had already refined these effects in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the Belgian artist Pieter van Schendel (1806-1870), a contemporary of Müller, also devoted himself to nocturnal group portraits by candlelight. From then on, the depictions were no longer just to show off sophisticated lighting effects, but more importantly a manifestation and documentation of popular life, i.e. genre paintings. It is evident in his works, that Müller displays empathy for a society heavily affected by the politics and circumstances of the time. The plaque on a collection box on the left warns in the semi-darkness: “Remember the poor”. A reminder, that the artist’s age was plagued by great social upheaval. During the 19th century, the psychological aspect of genre painting became the true meaning of this genre. This is the artist’s true accomplishment and the painting’s importance rather than just the realistic and astonishingly naturalistic nature of the lighting effects. Provenance: In 1834, King Louis I of Bavaria acquired a “Scene from the Tyrolean War of 1809” (Munich, Neue Pinakothek, inv. no. WAF 691). Literature: cf. Horst Ludwig, C.F. M. Müller, in: Bruckmanns Lexikon der Münchner Kunst. Münchner Maler im 19. Jahrhundert, vol. 3, p. 189f. cf. Alexander Rauch, Klassizismus und Romantik, Europas Malerei zwischen zwei Revolutionen, Cologne 2000, p. 318. € 30.000 - € 60.000 Sistrix INFO | BID 156 HAMPEL ONLINE Visit www.hampel-auctions.com for around 7.000 additional images.
