All experts

Günter Müller, Dresden and Vienna

Expert in

• Japanese Wood Block Prints (Ukiyo-e-Mokuhanga, Shin-hanga and Sôsaku-hanga)

Bio

• Extensive knowledge through countless expert opinions and descriptions for galleries, auction houses and museums
• Member of the International Society for Japanese Arts
• Keeps in close contact with well-known Japanese galleries and publishing houses

Günter Müller trained at the St Petersburg Conservatory under M.L. Rostropowitsch and enjoyed a career as a musician. After it ended, he decided to pursue his interest in Japanese wood engraving – which turned into a second career he describes as a gift from the gods. 

Mr Müller devoted all the passion and perfection he had for the cello to his hobby, wood engraving. Through countless experts’ opinions, descriptions for galleries, auction houses and museums, he came to understand that these jewels of the Ukiyo-e have more than just a name and a face – they have their own soul. They make the unseen visible. 

Thanks to his extensive travels in Japan, Mr Müller knows the country like almost no one else. There are few places with a connection to wood engraving or his specialist subjects that he hasn’t laid eyes on. 

Mr Müller’s close friendship with a renowned Japanese Zen master has further deepened his understanding of his specialist subject. He maintains close contact with the Ukiyo-e art galleries in Kanda (Tôkyô) and the famous publishing houses of Watanabe and Unsôdô. 

The work of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1842) features prominently in his extensive private collection, which was among works exhibited at the Japanese Embassy in Vienna under the patronage of the Institute of Japanese Culture.