Rhodes, Church of Saint Nicholas

This watercolor exhibits the confident handling and broad washes of color for which Müller was well known. The artist had spent three months in the Eastern Mediterranean, and by the time he reached the Greek island of Rhodes, he had run out of several colors, including cobalt, which may explain the muted tones of this example. Despite the lack of certain pigments, this drawing reveals Müller’s understanding of watercolor’s ability to capture the transitory effects of light. Feathery touches of transparent colors mimic rippling on the water’s surface (2022).