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William James Muller (1812-1845)
William James Muller was a landscape and figure artist of the Bristol School. Although he only lived to the age of 33, his work had taken him around the globe. In his earliest years, under the tutelage of James Baker Pyne, he painted the landscape around his home city, Bristol.
William James Muller was born on 28th June 1812 at 13 Hillsbridge Place (opposite). He was the son of John Samuel Muller, a museum curator in Bristol of Prussian descent who had escaped the wars in his country in 1801 onboard a cargo ship bound for Bristol. Muller began sketching at the age of 12 for use in his fathers lectures and at the age of 16 he was apprenticed to James Baker Pyne. This ended in 1829 after a disagreement between Pyne and Muller's father regarding the method of teaching. Although Pyne's work did not influence Muller greatly, he was able to study several early landscape artists including Claude Lorrain and Nicholas Poussin. He began producing work using the landscapes around Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wales.
"whitchurch, near bristol" - William James Muller
"whitchurch" - William James Muller
"SCENE NEAR whitchurch" - William James Muller
These paintings all depict scenes around Whitchurch village and will most likely date from the early 1830s. Muller must have had a fondness for the village and particularly St Nicholas Church as it appears in all three paintings.
Bristol Riots
In October 1831, major riots broke out in Bristol after the House of Lords rejected a Reform Bill which was intended to extend voting rights to more men in England and Wales. At the time, only wealthy landowners were entitled to vote, and the rapidly growing industrial cities were particularly underrepresented in Parliament. Bristol had a population of 100,000 but just two MPs at this time.
Muller was still living in Bristol at this time and recorded them and their aftermath. This painting by Muller represents the burning of the Custom House, Queen Square.
In 1833, he exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time, the next year he travelled through France, Switzerland and Italy. He visited the Middle East twice, in 1838-1839 where he travelled to Athens and on to Alexandria and Cairo and again in 1843-1844 before eventually returning to England and settling in London where he exhibited regularly.
Muller died in Bristol on 8th September 1845 and was buried in Brunswick Cemetery, off Brunswick Square. Following his death his work became in great demand and can now be found in Museums such as the Tate and the Met and the Royal Academy of Arts .
There is a collection of his work on display at Bristol Museum and there is a bust of the painter located at the entrance to the cloister at Bristol Cathedral.
WMDC - September 2024
