German artist Anton Müller-Wischin produced a broad and unique oeuvre of works ranging from landscapes to portraits and even still life. His work is infused with a myriad of inspirations.

His earlier work shows obvious nods to the realism of old masters, but as his oeuvre grows his work becomes infused with impressionistic influences. Sunsets become dashes of paint, reds bright and luminous, contrasting dramatically with the darker heaps of shadow.

Müller-Wischin was often praised for his striking use of colour, and his tendency to paint from memory, rather than from nature itself, surely helped encourage this dramaticism.

Much of his eclecticism is owed to his unconventional route towards professional painting. Müller-Wischin worked as a schoolteacher for much of his life, and it was only at age 35 that he discarded pen and paper for canvas and paint. He received no formal training and instead developed his style through practice and observation of the many works hanging in the galleries of Munich.

There is also much to suggest Müller-Wischin was inspired by the work of his friends, Franz von Stuck (1863-1928) and Max Liebermann (1847-1935). Both were practising and were involved in associations keen to promote new styles of art. The impressionist influences of Liebermann are mirrored in Müller-Wischin’s work, as are von Stuck’s more dramatic, avant-garde colour palettes.

Clearly, Müller-Wischin was surrounded by a progressive group of artists, and despite his late entry into the art world, he made a lasting impression. Many of his works were exhibited and he won a number of awards, including the extremely prestigious Goethe Medallion. He even caught the attention of the Nazis during the Weimar Germany period, and it is this that potentially kept his work safe through the rigours of the Second World War.

Whatever the case, Müller-Wischin’s work reflects the changing face of art during the early 20th-Century, with its new styles and its painters who could construct for themselves great success from the pursuance of their vocation.

1865

Born in Weißenhorn.

1892-1907

School teacher in Staudach-Egerndach.

1901

Married Mathilde Wischin.

1907

Began exhibiting with the Munich Artists' Cooperative.

1942

Winner of the Goethe Medallion.

1949

Died in Marquartstein.