Albert Müller

Albert Müller (29 November 1897 Basel, Switzerland - 14 December 1926) was a Swiss Expressionist painter, glass artist, draftsman, graphic artist and sculptor.

Early life and education

Müller was born in Basel on the 29 November 1897 to the gardener Emil Müller and his wife Anna Barbara Angelika Meyer. His parents married in 1887 and he had four siblings. Until 1913, the year he entered the school of crafts, he worked in the family business. In 1917, he graduated as a glass painter from the general business school in Basel. In 1917, he graduated from the apprenticeship as a glass painter at the workshop of Eichin & Straub in Basel. In France, he was impressed by the stained glass windows of the Chartres Cathedral. Amiet's house became a meeting point for several artists at the time, such as Ferdinand Hodler, Hermann Hesse or Marianne von Werefkin.

Professional career In 1920, he applied for a federal art grant and received 1000 Swiss Francs. He used the money for a journey to Italy. In October 1922, he came under the influence of Edvard Munch, from who he saw his paintings in the Kunsthalle Basel, an experience that would influence his relationship with Carl Burckhardt who was not impressed by the German expressionism. In 1923, he was invited to take part in an exhibition on Basel and it s environment in the Kunsthalle Basel. In 1924 his design for the stained glass windows of the Gewerbeschule in Basel was elected.

In 1923, Müller became acquainted with the expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The Kunsthalle Basel held the first representative exhibit of Kirchners works of Switzerland in June 1923, which would influence Müllers and his friend Hermann Scherers works in the future. The exhibit drew quite some attention from the critics and was also described the art magazine . And in the night of New Year's Eve, Albert Müller, Hermann Scherer and Paul Camenisch founded the artist group Rot-Blau in Obino.

Death and legacy In 1926, Müller died suddenly after contracting Typhus. Ludwig Kirchner strongly supported Müllers widow and children, organized a memorial exhibit for Albert Müller in Basel and also designed the poster for it. Following the trustees for the children Kaspar and Judith deposited all of Albert Müllers works in the Fine Art Museum of Basel and following the death of Judith in 1977, the paintings were transferred to Kaspar. In November 1923 the family settled to Obino, a village in the Muggio valley.

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