Seite - 310 - in Rudolf Eitelberger von Edelberg - Netzwerker der Kunstwelt

310 Marsha Morton He declared that he was “erfreut […] [über] Ihr[en] Entschluß Ihr Genre zu verändern und sich in Ihrer Heimat den orientalischen Themas ferner zu halten”.71 No such thing occurred and Müller left for Egypt in October, not returning until March. Four addi- tional winters were also spent in Cairo during the 1880s. Eitelberger, of course, came to greatly admire Müller’s Egyptian paintings, as ev- idenced by his 1881 essay, and was ultimately vindicated by his decision to hire him. Müller was very popular with students and, through his teaching, founded an Austrian school of Orientalism that included his nephew Rudolf Swoboda, Charles Wilda, Jo- hann Victor Krämer, and Franz Xaver Kosler.72 Not surprisingly, Eitelberger began his 1881 article on Müller with a lengthy discussion of his training and teaching at the Academy, firmly inscribing him in a Viennese institutional genealogy that Eitelberger had helped to create. Through Eitelberger’s encouragement of Müller’s career and their shared understanding of genre painting, they both contributed to the formation of a type of Viennese Orientalism that favored the “true to life” everyday world of multi-eth- nic Arab communities rather than fantasy images of eroticism and violence. Eitelberger proved himself to be a patient and supportive friend. Despite the fact that both men were frequently foiled in obtaining their personal agendas, they maintained a cordial and diplomatic tone in their written correspondence. While Müller seems to have agonized the most when their goals diverged, it was Eitelberger who ultimately capitulated more frequently. After originally seeing potential in Müller’s early work, he was open-minded and flexible enough to allow him to develop in unanticipated, and even initially unwelcome, directions. In the process, both grew and benefitted from this collaborative experience. 71 Eitelberger to Müller, 29  June 1877, ibid., p.  310. 72 For information and illustrations on these painters, as well as Müller, see the following exhibi- tion catalogues : E. Mayr-Oehring (ed.), Orient : Österreichische Malerei zwischen 1848 und 1914 (Salzburg : Residenzgalerie), Salzburg 1997 ; E. Mayr-Oehring (ed.), Orientalische Reise : Malerei und Exotik im späten 19.  Jahrhundert (exh.-cat. Vienna : Wien Museum), Vienna 2003 ; and A.  Husslein-Arco/S. Grabner (eds.), Orient & Occident : Travelling 19th Century Austrian Painters (exh.-cat. Vienna : Belvedere), Vienna 2012. Credits : fig. 1 : Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien (Leihgabe im Belve- dere, Inv.-Nr. Lg 353).  – figs. 2, 3 : Wienbibliothek im Rathaus.  – figs. 4, 5 : Vienna, Österreichis- che Nationalbibliothek, ANNO.  – fig. 6 : Sotheby’s.  – fig. 7 : Private Collection. Open Access © 2019 by BÖHLAU VERLAG GMBH & CO.KG, WIEN