Galerie Paul Prouté

Alfredo Müller was born in Livorno in 1869 into a wealthy merchant family with international roots. A polyglot, trained in the arts, literature and music, the young artist began painting in his teens. He received private lessons from Giuseppe Ciaranfi and Michele Gordigiani, his teachers at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts.

When he learned of his family’s ruin in 1890 while in France, he was forced to return to Tuscany. The Müllers finally emigrated to Paris in 1895. Alfredo took with him a letter of recommendation from the Florentine painter Telemaco Signorini to the painter Federico Zandomeneghi. Zandomeneghi gave him a cold reception, and the young artist became closer to the artists of Montmartre, in particular Eugène Delâtre, who introduced him to engraving. Müller also attended the Académie de la Palette from 1896, where two years later he met his future wife Margueritte Thomann.

With a dual career as a painter and engraver, Müller worked briefly with the famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard between September 1897 and October 1899. The result of this association was a suite of six etchings on Dante Alighieri’s Vita Nuova, published at the end of 1898. However, the artist, tired of submitting to the conditions – and above all the prices – imposed on him, quickly regained his freedom. From December 1899 onwards, Müller worked with another dealer, Edmond Sagot, with whom he enjoyed a more lasting and friendly relationship.