two nude young women, one standing at left, one seated at right; blue tree at center of image; water at right

Two Bathers, 1923

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Bathers and other female nudes in sylvan settings were Otto Mueller’s central theme for much of his career. Like his fellow members of Die Brücke—the most radical of the Expressionist artist groups—he rejected traditional academic goals. The flatness of Mueller’s figures, lack of illusionistic space, and arbitrary colors asserted that his was an art of the mind, not of direct observation leading to a facsimile of nature. He cared little for detail, texture, and specificity. His figures occupy a timeless, peaceful, somewhat melancholy world. He distanced himself from Germanic idealization with clues pointing to other racial strains.

In later years, the question of Mueller’s racial origins—particularly whether he was part gypsy—became a matter of debate. Although he explicitly depicted gypsies and styled himself an exotic, he held his cards to his chest on this highly charged question.

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Details
Title
Two Bathers
Artist Life
1874 - 1930
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2004.220.1
Provenance
John Gutmann, Berlin and San Francisco.* Elizabeth Winston Wyman and James Thomas Wyman, Wayzata, Minn. (by 1971-2004); given to MIA, 2004. *Gutmann, an American painter and photographer, was born in Germany and was Otto Mueller's student at the Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe in Breslau during the mid-1920s.
Catalogue Raisonne
Lüttichau and Pirsig 2003, no. 835
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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two nude young women, one standing at left, one seated at right; blue tree at center of image; water at right