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Otto Mueller (1874 Liebau/Riesengebirge - 1930 Obernigk bei Breslau). Mädchen im Dünengras. Um 1925 Watercolour and black chalk.Von Lüttichau 539. Signed lower left. On cream wove paper. 52 x 68 cm (20,4 x 26,7 in). Provenienz: Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin.Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Nobert Ketterer, 36. auction, Modern Art, 3./4. May 1961, lot 324a (ill.).Joaquín Herrmann, La Paz, Bolivia.Thomas Herrmann, La Paz, Bolivia.Ewa Herrmann, La Paz, Bolivia.Fanny Arroyo de Uria, La Paz, Bolivia. Ausstellung: Otto Mueller, Dom Galerie, Cologne, 19.04.-08.06.1963, cat.no. 10. Lothar-Günther Buchheim, Otto Mueller. Leben und Werk, Feldafing 1963, p. 75 (ill. in colours).Between 1890-92 Otto Mueller trained in lithography in Görlitz and Breslau. From 1894 until, it is believed, 1897 Mueller studied at the Dresden Art Academy under Georg Hermann Freye and, briefly, Carl Ludwig Noah Bantzer. After a short intermezzo in Munich, the artist lived and worked in Dresden between 1899 and 1908. There he met Wilhelm Lehmbruck and the 'Brücke' painter Erich Heckel. Mueller joined this artist group in 1910. His artistic origin lies in Art Nouveau, which explains the decorative and linear aspect of his art. The way he emphasised the silhouette and the classical, elegant and graceful appearance of his figures reveal another important influence: Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Mueller's style underwent a significant change when he turned towards Expressionism. His forms were now broader, the contours more emphasised. Unlike his colleagues from 'Die Brücke', Mueller concentrated on a single large subject: representing people, regardless of their social environment. Lovers, bathers and portraits of individual subjects are represented either in unspecified surroundings or outdoors. Tying the nude (usually female) figure into a landscape is a classic theme of painting, which Otto Mueller adopted, taking Hans von Marées and Paul Cézanne as his point of departure. Our work is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of Mueller's paintings of nudes. From the formal standpoint, it is stunning because the composition, which is built up of few lively yet precisely placed strokes of the chalk, is so fraught with tensions. Mueller has used his palette to work out the fragility of the girlish figure, applying his watercolours in varying degrees of density, achieving a quality and delicacy that never cease to fascinate viewers. Expressive in form yet at the same time inward-directed and searching for the essence of the human being as such, Mueller once again compellingly lays claim to a special niche in German Expressionist painting. After two years of military service between 1916 and 1918, Mueller answered the call to the Breslau Akademie, where he taught until his death in 1930.In good condition, colours still fresh. Lower left corner added. Two tiny splits in the lower edge, one backed. Minimally trimmed along the edges and backed with tape along the reverse edges. Upper margin with isolated bumps, minimally creased respectively.