Ingelijst gezicht op een landschap met bomen before 1902

This framed landscape with trees by F. Müller, wherever and whenever it was made, feels almost photographic in its detail, but the light and shadow tell a different story. It’s this interplay of light, shadow, and depth that gets me. Notice how the trees in the foreground are rendered with sharp contrast, almost silhouetted against the sky. The trees and foliage have a very distinct texture. Then, as your eye moves back, the details soften, blurring into a hazy distance. It's like Müller is not just showing us a place, but also how we perceive it – the way our focus shifts, how our eyes play tricks on us, how the seen and unseen intertwine. The gray and black tones feel quite modern, as if the artist could be channeling someone like Gerhard Richter. Ultimately, it’s this ambiguity that makes the image so compelling. It invites us to linger, to question, and to find our own story within the landscape.