Important Notice

Archibald Herman Müller was born in Cochin, Kerala to a German Father and an Indian mother. His multicultural influence reflected in his art in vivid ways. As a young student at the Madras Art School in the early 1900s, Müller absorbed the discipline of the European academic style of painting that required students to master Greco?Roman proportions of the body. But, inspired by Indian artists like Raja Ravi Varma, Müller’s subjects were... Archibald Herman Müller was born in Cochin, Kerala to a German Father and an Indian mother. His multicultural influence reflected in his art in vivid ways. As a young student at the Madras Art School in the early 1900s, Müller absorbed the discipline of the European academic style of painting that required students to master Greco?Roman proportions of the body. But, inspired by Indian artists like Raja Ravi Varma, Müller’s subjects were always rooted closer to home.

He would paint figures from Hindu mythology, deftly capture the Indian landscapes, and even bring to life the princely courts in exquisite ways. He was painting the India he knew and observed but in a way that also highlighted its cultural traditions and unique experiences through a curious foreign eye. In this way he held the patronage of royal families across the country and appealed to the Orientalist gaze of Europeans who prized exotic portrayals of the East.

Here, in this lot, we see an opulent Indian court scene where a nautch girl takes centre stage as she performs for the Maharaja. Behind her, handmaidens with lush peacock feather fans play music to accompany the graceful dancer and bear trays of wine and bottles of fragrant essential oils made of fresh rose petals. These details are brought to life with luminescent colours like bright blues and pinks, and the central figure is adorned in garments of gleaming gold that immediately entrance the viewer. Müller’s immense skill also shines through with the way he rendered and played with the viscosity of the oil paint to convey the translucency of the diaphanous, gauzy skirt hanging from the dancer’s hips and animate the lightness of the loose bubblegum pink scarf tied to her arm. The sinuous fabrics are caught in motion, dancing and moving with the body of the performer. Müller manages not just to document a moment in time but also choreograph it into a dynamic image.

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