Leopold Müller (painter)
Leopold Carl Müller (9 December 1834 – 4 August 1892) was an Austrian painter best known for his Orientalist scenes and landscapes. Born in Dresden to Austrian parents, he studied at the Vienna Academy with Karl von Blaas and Christian Ruben. After his father’s death, he supported his family by eight years of illustrating for the Vienna Figaro, then continued studying and traveling to Italy and Egypt, creating scenes from daily life.
In the late 1860s he visited Paris and was inspired by Eugène Fromentin, which led him to focus more on Orientalist subjects. In 1877 he became a professor at the Vienna Academy and served as rector in 1890–91. His pupils included Ludwig Deutsch, Paja Jovanović, Jean Discart, and Charles Wilda. Müller travelled to Egypt many times, often staying for months at a time; in 1879 he traveled with his nephew Rudolf Swoboda.
He died in 1892 in Weidlingau, Vienna, and is buried at the Zentralfriedhof. His best-known work is Market in Cairo (1878), housed at the Belvedere in Vienna. Other notable pieces include Arabian Money-Changers, Pilgrims to Mecca Resting, Bedouins in Camp, Camel Market, Young Copt Woman, The Inundation in Vienna, Old Little Matron, Last Task of the Day, and Soldiers in the Thirty Years’ War.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:33 (CET).