A Vanitas 1919. Pastel and coloured chalks. Signed and dated '30.Nov. 1919'. 247 x 400 mm (9 1/5 x 15 3/4 inches).		RICHARD MÜLLER Tschirnitz 1874 ~ 1954 Dresden Richard Müller's bizarre style has attracted much attention in recent years. He was considered the most brilliant pupil of Max Klinger and was the teacher of both Georg Grosz and Otto Dix. The latter was particularly influenced by him. Müller won the Prix de Rome in 1897 for his etchings and a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1900. In the same year he was appointed as Professor of Painting and Drawing at the Dresden Academy. Later he became Director of the whole Academy, a post he was made to relinquish in 1935. Müller's work was very influential in his lifetime and he is regarded as the father of the Neue Sachlichkeit.1 A Vanitas is a form of still life painting which came into being in Dutch and Flemish art of the seventeenth century. The objects in these paintings often contain a hidden allegory, either on the transience of things in this world or the inevitability of death. Vanitas, as translated from the Latin, literally means emptiness and,in this context, signifies the emptiness of earthly possessions. The skull is a memento mori reminding us that we must die. The laurel wreath represents the power and possessions of this world which death will take away. 1. In English, the New Objectivity Movement.