William James Muller "The Grand Canal Venice, looking towards the Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute"
William Muller was born on June 28, 1812 in Bristol, a seaport in southwest England. His father was a Prussian scientist, born in Danzig, who fled the intensifying war with France on a cargo boat, abandoning all his possessions. As he was well-versed in botany, geology and conchology, he was warmly received into English academic circles. He settled in Bristol, because Curator of the Bristol Museum and married a local woman. William was the second of three sons.
William's father was so absorbed in his researches, and unenthusiastic about his children's learning, that William did not attend school, receiving instead a basic education from his mother. He did acquire from is father skill in the observation of nature, which must have influenced his decision to become a painter. From the age of ten, he produced drawings of marine shells and other items to accompany his father's learned essays. His determination to succeed led him to hone his draftsmanship.
At 15, Muller became a pupil of the landscape painter J.B.Pyne (1800 - 1870). Pyne was the only teacher Muller ever had, and he only studied under Pyne for two years. After his father's death in 1830, Muller received his first commission and embarked seriously on a career in art.
Afflicted by a heart ailment, Muller was destined to live only 33 years, dying on September 8, 1845. He was an avid traveler, taking frequent sketching trips to Britain, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Minor. In 1834, he left for a seven-month sketching tour on the Continent with his painter friend George Arthur Fripp, visiting Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In Venice, they spent nearly two months, staying at the Albergo dell' Europa Hotel opposite the Dogana (Doge's Palace) and abutting the Grand Canal. Almost daily, the pair would hire a gondola and sketch vigorously as they punted along.
On his return home, Muller completed many oil paintings from his sketches, working at a prodigious pace. He is reported to have finished his large works, an example of which is before you, in only three or four days. The Doge's Palace and the churches lining the canals were his favorite subjects.
His work remains popular to this day in Britain, and several exhibitions have been mounted in recent decades, most in England. One, held at the Bristol Art Gallery in 1962, commemorated the 150th anniversary of his birth. Others included a display of watercolors at the Tate Gallery, London in 1984, and another exhibition at the Bristol Art Gallery in 1991.
Click picture for larger view.(53.2KB)
William James Muller
(1812 - 1845)
The Grand Canal Venice, looking
towards the Dogana and Santa
Maria della Salute
1837
Oil on canvas
133×228cm
