Karl Müller: A German artist who loved Egypt

Carl Müller (1834–1892) was a creative artist born in Dresden and died in Vienna. Müller traveled to Egypt many times, so much so that his students nicknamed him “Müller the Egyptian.” He painted scenes from everyday life and sketches of Egyptian figures.

After training as a lithographer in his father Leopold Müller’s workshop, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he studied under Carl von Blass and Carl Ruppert. He traveled to Venice, Hungary, London, and Paris, where he was first introduced to Orientalist painting in 1857 through the works of the artist Fromentin.
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Between 1873 and 1886, Müller traveled to Egypt nine times and founded the Austrian School of Oriental Painting in 1877. He became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, then its dean from 1890 to 1891.

One of his most famous paintings, “Market in Cairo,” is on display at the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in Vienna, and “Egyptian Girl” is another great example of his delicate style. In this painting, the girl is shown from the chest up, painted in shades of yellow and brown. Art critics often compare the loose brushstrokes on the girl’s clothes with the soft, matte finish on her face, which intensifies her solemn expression, a technique borrowed from the Spanish artist Velázquez.One of his most famous paintings is “The Holy Family,” kept at the Metropolitan Museum, which he executed in black and white chalk on gray paper.