MÜLLER, William James - b. 1812 Bristol, d. 1845 Bristol

English painter and draughtsman of Prussian descent. He was the son of a Prussian émigré and his Bristol-born wife. He began drawing at an early age and in 1827 was apprenticed to James Baker Pyne (1800-1870), a follower of Turner. By the early 1830s Müller had acquired a reputation for the rapidity and proficiency of his sketching.

His first subjects were predominantly the picturesque back streets of Bristol and the woods and lanes of the surrounding countryside. While influenced by the landscapes of older Bristol colleagues such as Samuel Jackson (1794-1869), Müller also adopted stylistic elements from other artists, including Samuel Prout (1783-1852) and John Sell Cotman (1782-1842). This eclecticism was to continue throughout Müller’s career and was both a strength and a weakness in his art.

Müller died in Bristol from heart disease at the young age of thirty-three before his full potential was realised.

View of Florence

M�ller was to travel around parts of Europe and the Middle-East throughout his short, yet productive, career. From the numerous plein air sketches made on his travels he would have returned home to execute large scale paintings in oil. It is highly likely that the present impressive view of Florence and the river Arno from San Miniato is based on one of the various sketches he made during his few days in Florence.