Love and Death
Artist
Richard Müller
(Austrian, 1874–1954)
Date1918
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions54.5 × 37 cm (21 7/16 × 14 9/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineHiggins Collection Acquisitions Fund and the Stoddard Acquisition Fund
Object number2018.37
Label TextLove and Death was painted just after the end of World War I. As an allegory of loss and sacrifice, it evokes Germany’s devastation by war, famine, civil conflict, and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Many artists grappled with the war and its aftermath by experimenting with new modes of visual expression. By contrast, Müller—a professor at Dresden’s Fine Arts Academy—turned to techniques and symbols from the Old Masters. Yet the painting also has a Surrealist quality, juxtaposing images that suggest the workings of the subconscious mind: the female nude on a silken throw, the helmet in her lap, the crown of flowers, the skeleton, the river wandering through a paradoxically serene landscape—all depicted with masterful precision and beauty.ProvenanceFrom Kilgore: Private Collection, Bavaria.On View
On view
