William Muller-Lux

William Muller-Lux was born in Bohemia in 1911. He studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Prague and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris before establishing his career as a painter.

Muller-Lux, affectionately known as "Willy," maintained studios in Phoenix and Payson, Arizona for many years. From these bases, he traveled throughout the Southwest, Mexico, and Europe in search of subjects for his paintings.

Muller-Lux worked exclusively in realist and impressionist styles, focusing on subjects that interested him including figurative paintings and drawings, landscapes, still lifes, florals, and animal paintings. His preferred media were oils and pastels, though he also used pen and ink and Japanese brush for line drawings of the human figure. He particularly enjoyed painting people, especially children, as well as landscapes, animals, and flowers.

His line and brush drawings of the female nude were collected in the volume "Muller-Lux Drawings: 1958-1963," published in 1988. During his lifetime, critics called him "one of the few living Old Masters."

Muller-Lux viewed the artist as a guide to fast-paced society, pointing out the beauty in nature. His love of nature and sense of humor were evident throughout his work. He died on January 30, 2007, in Arizona, surrounded by the mountains and valleys of the country he loved.