MÜLLER, William James


MÜLLER, William James

Artist

(b. 1812, Bristol, d. 1845, Bristol)

Details

English painter and draughtsman of Prussian descent. He was the son of a Prussian émigré and his Bristol-born wife. He began drawing at an early age and in 1827 was apprenticed to James Baker Pyne (1800-1870), a follower of Turner. By the early 1830s Müller had acquired a reputation for the rapidity and proficiency of his sketching. His first subjects were predominantly the picturesque back streets of Bristol and the woods and lanes of the surrounding countryside. While influenced by the landscapes of older Bristol colleagues such as Samuel Jackson (1794-1869), Müller also adopted stylistic elements from other artists, including Samuel Prout (1783-1852) and John Sell Cotman (1782-1842). This eclecticism was to continue throughout Müller's career and was both a strength and a weakness in his art. Müller died in Bristol from heart disease at the young age of thirty-three before his full potential was realised. //


Category Artists
Artists by letter M
Artist nationality English