Little mine in Scheibenberg
  • Richard Müller
  • Tschirnitz / Bohemia 1874 -1954 Dresden
  • Little mine in Scheibenberg, 1937
  • Pencil and charcoal on creme board
  • inscribed, dated and signed:
    Scheibenberg 1937 Rich. Müller,
    signed and inscribed again on the verso:
    Rich. Müller Scheibenberg Erzgeb. / bei Freiberg
  • cat. rais. Z 1937.17
  • 260 × 320 mm

Although Richard Müller set off at the young age of 14 for Meißen and, later, the Saxon capital of Dresden, he was continually drawn back to his native land in the Bohemian part of the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). He was particularly interested in the natural scenery there, as well as the difficult everyday lives of its inhabitants. An example of this interest is the expressive drawing of a small mine in Scheibenberg, the former center of brownstone mining, which Müller visited in 1937. The artist portrays the toilsome labor of handling the lorry on a conveyor belt through a series of sharp contrasts in light and shadow. A wooden tower dominates the center of the drawing, dark and threatening, serving as a manifestation of the debasement of nearly-invisible workers through the rigors of this primitive industry.