William G. Muller (born 1937) American, Hudson River Maritime Oil on Canvas. Nautical painting depicting some of his favorite subjects: the iconic looming Hook Mountain just north of the modern Tappan Zee Bridge, with a beached vessel in the foreground and a steamship (likely the Hudson River Day Line ship the Alexander Hamilton). Signed lower right. Framed. 

Overall Size: 14 5/8 x 17 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 8 3/4 x 11 1/2 in. 

Frame Thickness: 2 1/4 in. 

#4559 

William “Bill” G. Muller was born in a small town along the Hudson River in New York in 1937. From a young age he was enamored with the surviving old-time vessels that still traversed the waterways, particularly the steamships, and while still a teen he served as Quartermaster on the last of the coal-fired Hudson River Day Line vessels, the Alexander Hamilton. He was an artistic prodigy, and studied and painted ships and other historic landmarks with passion and remarkable accuracy. He was encouraged by friends and family to pursue art instead of a nautical career, and attended the Pratt Institute in the late 1950s. After graduating he studied further at the New York School of Visual Art and the Art Students League, where his maritime art got him work with an advertising firm for over fifteen years. His love of boats and the water never diminished, and in 1978 he became the Founding Director and later Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists. He helped found the Hudson River Maritime Center Museum in 1980 in Rondout, a suburb of Kingston. In the early 1980s he left commercial work to pursue maritime art full time, and was elected a member of the Society of American Historical Artists, as well as an advisor to the National Maritime Historical Society. After his first solo exhibition at the Madison Avenue Gallery in 1985 he was commissioned to design two steamboat-style harbor cruisers for the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City, and in the early 2000s he settled in Rondout, where he continues to paint, considered one of the best modern artists to rediscover and portray maritime scenes from past centuries. His work has been published in American Heritage, Business Week, Yachting, Yankee, Sea History, Art Today, U.S. Art, and on numerous book covers. His work has been exhibited in various marine museums and is represented in many important private and corporate collections.