Portrait of Franziska Müller - Year 1 at Academy San Carlos, 1934
Early Life
Franziska Müller was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1915, to parents Albrecht Müller and Hanna Müller. She grew up in an academic family, with her dad being a professor and her mother living as a teacher, yet from an early age Franziska Müller was drawn to the arts.
Müller didn’t like her time in school as it was very contraining and rigid. One of the only ways she found freedom was in drawing classes. She was very much influenced by the Dada and Surrealist movements in Germany. Her art was not well received by her teachers.
Untitled montage from journal, Franziska Müller, 1921, E. A. Westphalen Collection
(made during the hyperinflation in Germany)
Historical Context of Germany (Weimar Republic) and Dada
Post WWI Europe was in a state of political, social and economic turmoil. This gave birth to radical and unconventional ideas, both politically and socially. People lost faith in the culture of rationality, and modernist ideas emerged in all art forms including literature, music, theater, and visual arts (Taschen). Dada art essentially tried to replace humans’ rational chaos with irrationality, embracing confusion (Trachtman). Some of the common characteristics in Dada art include montage, use of photos, irrational imagery, and distorted compositions, each serving an important function. For example, montage–which is an act of piecing together fragments of images–was important in reflecting the destruction and political fragmentation of post war Germany. Dada art often touched on many aspects of society, criticizing rationality, violence, incompetency of the government and lack of women’s rights.
example of montage work by Hannah Höch, 1919
Müllers Immigration to Mexico
As Hitler rose to power in the 1930’s, Dadaist art became rebranded as degenerate art. There was a wave of immigrants moving to the Americas to escape the oppressive regime in Europe. Müller’s parents were supportive of her art practice, so in 1933 they managed to help her flee to Mexico.
Untitled sketch, Franziska Müller, 1934, E. A. Westphalen Collection
Müller’s University Years
Müller upended her life to live in a completely foreign country. Müller attended art studies at the Academy of Fine Art of San Carlos in Mexico City from 1934-1939. Her practice continued to develop, influenced by her tumultuous childhood, political unrest she experienced in both countries she had lived in, and gender. Throughout her school years Müller spent time working with many artistic collectives in the area. The surrealist art scene in Mexico City greatly impacted her personal pieces. To Müller, surrealism offered the only viable language to express her transnational reality. (Mexican culture drove surrealist art to new ideas. After many European artists immigrated to Mexico, the genre flourished with the progressive ideas, indigenous traditions, and vast landscapes of the country.)
Untitled sketch, Franziska Müller, 1935, E. A. Westphalen Collection
Mexican Art and its Influence on Müller
Her time in Mexico led her to encountering the works of Remedios Varo, Leonara Carrington, and Kati Horna, artists that furthered her exploration into the genre of surrealism. Mexican art was also a large part of the muralist movement, and Franziska was very inspired by the bright colorful murals throughout the city during the 1930’s. Müller began to incorporate different mediums and styles into her art as she matured, other students helping her push her experimentation.
International Surrealist Exhibition
A career highlight was in 1940, when Müller was invited to be a part of the “International Surrealist Exhibition” in Mexico City alongside some of the world's most proficient artists. It was here that she first encountered both Frida Kahlo and Marcel Duchamp, prominent artists who influenced Franziska’s work in the later half of her life. Though she never found a huge amount of financial success, Müller’s dedication to her craft remained until the very end of her life.
Müllers Professional Career
Over the years many of her paintings and drawings were featured in small galleries and displays around the city, achieving a humble amount of attention for the transnational surrealist art movement. This continued to steadily grow through persistent work and connections developed through her time at the academy, with Müller eventually becoming prominent in her local scene. She lived with other female artists throughout her 20s, surviving off of commissioned pieces and the rare exhibition. (Surrealism in Mexico encouraged female artists to express themselves, leading to the success of many now iconic artists.)
Later Years
After a long and arduous battle with influenza, Müller passed away at Hospital De Jesus, Mexico City, surrounded by friends.