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| William James MÜLLER (Bristol 1812 - Bristol 1845)
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| View of Florence and the River Arno from St. Miniato
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Oil on canvas
33 ½ x 52 in. (85 x 132 cm.)
Literature: (Possibly) C. G. E. Bunt, The Life and Work of William James Müller of Bristol, Leigh-on-Sea, 1948, p. 95
During the early nineteenth century travel to Italy and plein-air sketching was normal practice for aspiring English artists who followed in the footsteps of other great masters, such as Francis Towne, Richard Wilson and the French seventeenth century master, Claude. It was not only the lure of the light of Italy but also the Italian landscape and its vibrant cities which attracted artists and Grand Tour tourists alike.
In July 1834 William James Müller left Bristol with his fellow artist, George Arthur Fripp, on a tour around Europe, with Italy as their destination. They crossed the channel to Antwerp and travelled through Belgium to meet the Rhine at Cologne, they passed through Switzerland and arrived in Italy in August where they visited the Northern lakes, Padua, Venice and Florence arriving in Rome, the Eternal city, at Christmas. From there they hired a horse and trap to travel the twenty miles to Tivoli where they sketched for two weeks. Müller’s paintings from this period achieved some success but in 1838, determined to investigate the less familar subject matter of Greece and Egypt, he travelled to the the colourful bazaars of Cairo, the Pyramids along the Nile and the Ancient ruins of Greece. Indeed, Müller was to travel around parts of Europe and the Middle-East throughout this short, yet productive, career. In the early 1840s he journeyed to Northern France to gather material for the publication, The Age of Francis I, and then onto Somerset and Wales to renew his passion for the countryside and contact with nature. In 1843 he took an unusual journey to a remote part of Turkey, formerly ancient Lycia, in the hope that the new and exotic subjects would win him wider acclaim. Indeed the numerous sketches from this trip (see Tate Gallery London, William Müller 1812 – 1845, exh. cat., 12 November 1984 – 31 March 1985) are said to be the best of his career. Müller, the son of a Prussian emigré to Bristol, died in Bristol from heart disease at the young age of thirty-three before his full potential was realised.
The Colnaghi painting is a wonderful example of Müller’s skill as a painter in oil. He combines the warm light of Italy with a delicate attention to accuracy which is not only seen in the topographical represention of the central area of the city of Florence but in the detail of the peasant woman’s dress. From the numerous en plein air sketches made on his travels he would have returned home to execute large scale paintings in oil. Due to the large scale of our painting and the fact that Müller only stayed a few days in Florence it is highly likely that View of Florence and the River Arno from St. Miniato stems from one of the various sketches Müller made during his few days in the city and that it is our painting which appears in Bunt’s book, (op. cit., p. 95) “as mentioned by Solly.”
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P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd - 15 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AX, United Kingdom Tel: +44-20-7491 7408 Fax: +44-20-7491 8851 contact@colnaghi.co.uk
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