Nicolaus Müller

Nicolaus Müller kept a small notebook where he sketched his neighbors in the village of Curtea de Argeș, Romania, mostly on Sundays when the church bells rang and people dressed in their best. He never left home without it, filling pages with quick lines of farmers, priests, and merchants—faces that look back at you in his paintings like they’re about to speak. Look for “Petrecere cu dans,” a Sunday dance scene where one woman’s skirt swirls so lively it almost steps out of the frame.