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That's how it was...Exhibition: Nicolás Muller. The committed look
From March 26 to May 30, 2021. El Águila Room.
The exhibition, organized by the Community of Madrid, the Cervantes Institute and the Ministry of Culture and Sports, sought to expand knowledge of the work of Nicolás Muller through 125 photographs, most of them unpublished. He collected a series of images that Nicolás Muller never produced or that are part of editorial works that only used a small part of them, and in many cases it could be said that they were “disfigured”, since they were reframed to adapt to the needs of the publications, becoming in many cases almost unrecognizable from the original shot. The negatives have been almost forgotten, but in the custody of his daughter Ana Muller. Now, the coming to light of these images, whose photographic collection is kept in the Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid, deepens the work of Nicolás Muller and confirms the high quality of the work that still remains unpublished.
Nicolás Muller witnessed a time that filled Europe with scars, and made a notarial record of what working life was like in his time. He lived and suffered the principles of Nazism and in his search for a free society he ended up in several of the countries that fell under the influence of Nazi barbarism: Austria, Italy and France, or in those that had their own misfortune such as Portugal or Spain , with dictatorships.
The sample that represents a vital tour of the countries in which Muller lived is thus integrated by 125 photographs taken between 1930 and 1960, of which 29 were made in Spain, 26 in France, 26 in Hungary, 24 in Morocco and 20 in Portugal . These images are accompanied by numerous documents, negatives and publications that are part of the Muller Fund in a unique opportunity for public exhibition. In addition, in an exclusive way, in the El Águila Gallery, these images are accompanied by numerous documents, negatives and publications that are members of the Nicolás Muller Fund, on a unique occasion for their public exhibition.
The exhibition will tour different locations of the Cervantes Institute coinciding with the places where Nicolás Muller lived and which are reflected in the works in the exhibition: Morocco, France, Hungary, Portugal and Spain. Before passing through the Sala El Águila, the exhibition has toured the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in Tangier and Tetouan.
Biography
Nicolás Muller (Orosháza, Hungary, 1913 - Llanes, Asturias, Spain, 2000)
He is part of that exceptional roster of well-known Hungarian photographers, such as André Kertész, László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi, Brassaï, Lucien Hervé and Robert Capa.
Of Jewish origin, Nicolás Muller lived in his homeland in the run-up to World War II and, like most Jews, had to emigrate to save his life. At that time he toured Italy, France, Portugal, Morocco, and finally ended up in Spain, a country that would be his definitive settlement.
Nicolás Muller Fund. Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid
There are many funds and documents that are kept in the Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid, highlighting among them the Nicolás Muller Fund, kept in this archive since the Community of Madrid acquired it through purchase from his daughter Ana Muller Lasa in the year 2014.
Exhibition sections
EXPO room PHOTOS
Hungary
Labrador during threshing. 1935
Ana Muller Fund
Dam construction IV. 1936
Ana Muller Fund
1931.- From a very young age he has been photographing the harsh conditions of rural Hungarian life.
1933.- He made his first job as a photographer at the Photo Service agency in Vienna.
1935.- He has a doctorate in Law and Political Science, but his passion for photography is already clear.
1937.- He publishes his first book of photographs entitled Life of our peasants. He also collaborates with his Images in publications together with the poet Miklos Radnoti, the artist Jorge Buday or the ethnologist Julio Ortutay: «All my training, my ideas, the line of my thought, was forged there». His images illustrate The Corner of Storms, the first in a series of books on Hungarian Peasant life.
France
La Madeleine. Paris. 1938
Ana Muller Fund
Peasant from Haute Savoie. 1938
Ana Muller Fund
1938.- Germany annexes Austria, and Muller decides to move to Paris through Italy, which is already under the fascist regime of Mussolini. He arrives in Paris and finally enjoys the feeling of freedom that he so longed for. Here he meets other Hungarian artists, such as Lajos Tihanyi, Brassai, Robert Capa, and even Picasso. It is perhaps at this time that he develops his potential as a photographer.
He travels all over the country with the help of his cousin Lucien, doing work for Regards, Paris Match, Paris Plaisirs, Plaisirs France, Mundo Latino, Editions Hyperion or France Magazine.
Portugal
Vilar Formoso Market IV. 1939
Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid. Nicolás Muller Fund
Under the rain. 1939
Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid. Nicolás Muller Fund
1939.- When France goes to war with Germany, he travels to Portugal, passing through a Spain destroyed by the Civil War, in order to make a report on this country for France Magazine. But he will no longer return to Paris.
After a short stay in Portugal under the Salazar dictatorship, he was arrested, imprisoned and forced to leave the country, which led him to move again, this time to Tangier (Morocco).
Morocco
Tangier 1942
Ana Muller Fund
Group of girls. Tangier 1945
Ana Muller Fund
1939.- In Tangier he opens his own photographic studio, dedicated to portraits and all kinds of social events. In addition, he began to collaborate with several Spanish publications such as the newspaper España or the Institute of Political Studies of Madrid. Here he spends eight years that he defines as "the happiest years of my life." During this period, he held his first exhibitions in Tangier and Madrid.
Spain
The Huécar river. Basin. Circa 1952
Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid. Nicolás Muller Fund
Business lunch. Madrid. 1950
Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid. Nicolás Muller Fund
1947.- Moves to Madrid. He opens his studio in the Castellana and frequents the social gatherings of the city. The result of this is his exceptional series of portraits of Spanish artists and intellectuals. He travels around the country taking photographs for iconic publications of the moment such as Mundo Hispánico.
1961.- Obtains Spanish nationality. His daughter Ana joins the studio as an assistant.
1966.- The exhibition España clara takes place, with a text by Azorín.
1966-67-68.- The collection Imagen de España (Editorial Clave) makes a series of books dedicated to six Spanish regions.
1980.- Andrin (Asturias) is retired. He leaves his photographic studio in the hands of his daughter Ana.
1985.- He exhibits at the Jovellanos Museum in Gijón what will be the first of many exhibitions that will showcase his work as an author, and which will end up assuming recognition as one of the great masters of humanist photography, with an unmistakable identity stamp.
1994.- He exhibits at the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (Madrid). From that moment on, his work travels to Argentina, Israel, France, Hungary, Morocco, etc.
2000.- He died in Llanes (Asturias, Spain).