PAUL KLE E

i
*

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

▼
Pau l Klee
PAUL KLEE
Edited by Carolyn Lanchner

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

PUBLISHED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE J. PAUL GETTY TRUST

Published on the occasion of
the exhibition Paul Klee:

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

February 12-May 5, 1987

The Cleveland Museum of Art

June 24-August 16, 1987

Kunstmuseum Bern
Bern, Switzerland
September 25, 1987-January 3, 1988

The exhibition has been organized with the

aid of a grant from the National Endowment
for the Arts. Indemnification of foreign loans
has been provided through the Federal Coun¬
cil on the Arts and the Humanities

Copyright © 1987 by
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Certain illustrations are covered by claims to
copyright noted with Photo Credits, p. 340
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog
Card Number 86-62517
Hardcover ISBN 0-87070-403-6
Paperback ISBN 0-87070-404-4
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Editions
Gallimard, Paris, for permission to quote "Paul
Klee," by Paul Eluard, from Capitate de la
Douleur, © 1926, and to The Viking Press,
New York, to quote the English translation
from The Autobiography of Surrealism,
Copyright © Marcel Jean, 1980
Edited by Jane Fluegel
Designed by Steven Schoenfelder
Production by Tim McDonough
Composition by Trufont Typographers, Inc.,
Hicksville, New York
Printed and bound by Arnoldo Mondadori,
Verona, Italy
Distributed outside the United States and
Canada by Thames and Hudson Ltd., London
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, New York 10019
Printed in Italy
Frontispiece:
Twittering Machine
1922 / 151
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase Fund
Contents

Foreword 7

Preface and Acknowledgments 9

Klee and the Avant-Garde 1912-1940 13

ANN TEMKIN

From Revolution to Exile 39

0. k. werckmeister

Klee and German Romanticism 65

JURGEN GLAESEMER

Klee in America 83
CAROLYN LANCHNER

Plates 113

Chronology 324

Bibliography 331

Exhibition History 335

Lenders to the Exhibition 338

Trustees of The Museum of Modern Art 339

Photo Credits 340

Index 341
 Foreword

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition Paul Klee, organized by The
Museum of Modern Art in close collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Bern and its Paul
Klee Foundation. The continuing cooperation of our two institutions has made the
realization of this project especially gratifying. Plans for this retrospective go back to the
midseventies, when an exchange of exhibitions was conceived as a complementary
program that would benefit the museum-going public in Switzerland and the United
States.
In 1979, as a joint anniversary event celebrating the founding of the Kunstmuseum in
1879 and of The Museum of Modern Art fifty years later, we sent the exhibition American
Art from The Museum of Modern Art to Bern. In return, the Kunstmuseum assured us of
its assistance in the organization of a Paul Klee retrospective. Without the generous
support of the Kunstmuseum's Klee Foundation, the present exhibition would not have
been possible. We acknowledge with gratitude the cooperation of the Kunstmuseum's
Director, Dr. Hans Christoph von Tavel. It has been a pleasure to work with him, and we
look forward to future opportunities to continue this international collaboration.
Because the present exhibition is so much a product of discussions that took place over
ten years ago between the Kunstmuseum's former Director, Dr. Hugo Wagner, and Dr.
William Rubin, our Museum's Director of Painting and Sculpture, we are deeply indebted
to them both for its realization. We are also most grateful to Dr. Sandor Kuthy, Deputy
Director of the Kunstmuseum, who was closely involved in initiating and organizing the
1979 exhibition that served as the basis of exchange for this one. We further express our
appreciation to Waldo Rasmussen, Director of The Museum of Modern Art's International
Program, who coordinated the earlier exhibition, and to the Museum's International
Council, which sponsored it.
That we have been able to mount this retrospective is due not only to the sympathetic
cooperation of the Klee Foundation but also to the good will of Felix Klee, the artist's son.
His assistance has been vital to much of the research connected with the exhibition and its
accompanying book, and he is also a generous lender. We are most appreciative of his
active interest and help.
We are also pleased that the exhibition is traveling to The Cleveland Museum of Art. Its
showing there has been made possible by a generous grant from National City Bank of
Cleveland. It is always a source of gratification when an exhibition of this interest and
merit can be seen by a larger public.
The complex elements of this retrospective made its organization a costly endeavor. We
are grateful for the financial support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, through the Art and Artifacts
Indemnity Act, provided insurance coverage for foreign loans that was essential to the
realization of the exhibition.
The J. Paul Getty Trust has generously provided a grant toward the publication of this
book. For this support we are most appreciative.
 I should also like to thank the staff of The Museum of Modern Art, almost all of whom
contribute in some degree to the realization of an exhibition of this scope. Foremost
among them in this case, of course, is Carolyn Lanchner, Curator in the Department of
Painting and Sculpture and Director of the Exhibition. Deeply committed to revealing and
celebrating the full range of Paul Klee's genius, she has worked tirelessly and very
effectively to plan and accomplish a presentation worthy of this subject. She was invalua¬
bly aided by the expertise and good judgment of Jurgen Glaesemer, Curator of the Paul
Klee Foundation in Bern, who collaborated with her in the selection of works and in
arranging loans from the Foundation. We owe both Ms.Lanchner and Dr. Glaesemer our
warm thanks and admiration.
Finally I must express our deepest appreciation to all the private and institutional lenders
to this retrospective. Without their generosity, no exhibition, however well-conceived and
distinguished, could be realized. We are immensely grateful for their participation.

Richard E. Oldenburg
Director
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
 Preface and
Acknowledgments

A principal goal of this book and the exhibition that it accompanies is to clarify Klee's place
in the history of modernism. Although Klee has been the subject of a vast literature and
many exhibitions, there nonetheless persists a tendency, critical as well as popular, to see
his work as peripheral to the mainstream of twentieth-century art. Yet Klee's work, in its
multiplicity of styles, variety, and inventiveness, is a virtual index of the art of our century.
He was the only artist of his generation who allowed his work to range freely between the
figurative and the nonfigurative, the openly gestural and the tightly geometric, the wholly
linear and the wholly chromatic. But the rich legacy of his art has tended to be over¬
shadowed by the most readily grasped aspects of its appeal: its lyricism, whimsicality, and
wit. In assembling for publication and for the exhibition some three hundred objects in all
mediums and from all periods of the artist's career, we hope to provide the opportunity for
a broader understanding and appreciation of his oeuvre.
Klee's art has opened many doors for many artists throughout the course of the century.
A reexamination of his work is especially timely, for increased interest in contemporary
German art has stimulated a new recognition of the importance of the German contribu¬
tion to the modern movement. As we have wished the exhibition to demonstrate the
depth and breadth of Klee's achievement, so we have intended the essays in this book as a
contribution to a more broadly based interpretation and contextualization of Klee as
artist, as human being, and as powerful presence in twentieth-century art.
The four essays that follow are written from contrasting points of view, come from
mixed ideological bases, and address quite different aspects of Klee. They are linked,
however, by a common effort to locate Klee's work in the cultural and historical climate of
his time. Each focuses upon an area that has not previously been explored in the Klee
literature. Ann Temkin has taken as her task the analysis of Klee in relation to contempo¬
rary movements and individuals, with particular emphasis on Klee's relevance to the
avant-garde outside Germany. 0. K. Werckmeister examines major crises in German and
European history in order to treat Paul Klee's apparently private art in the context of the
sociopolitical situation of his time. Jurgen Glaesemer sets Klee in the continuum of
German Romanticism; while he does not discount sociopolitical factors, he nonetheless
writes from the conviction that the fundamental causes of form and meaning in Klee's art
are rooted in the artist's spiritual self. My own essay traces the trajectory of Klee's
reputation and exposure in America to establish the historical ground for his vital
importance to American Abstract Expressionism. Together these essays constitute an
open-ended, discursive inquiry into the phenomenon of Paul Klee.
This book takes its place within the ongoing Klee literature, which, even as it broadens
our comprehension of the artist's achievement, can never solve the mystery of Klee. It is
hoped that these considerations of Klee's art will return the reader to the center of his
work itself, where new possibilities will be revealed upon those sheets and canvases.
Of all the people who have contributed to the realization of this project, there are two
to whom I owe far more than I can possibly express, Jurgen Glaesemer and Ann Temkin.
At the outset, Dr. Glaesemer, Curator of the Klee Foundation at the Bern Kunstmuseum
and one of the world's foremost authorities on Klee, accepted an invitation to work with
me on a collaborative basis. This association has been professionally invaluable as well as
personally rewarding. Not only did we select the exhibition jointly, but Dr Glaesemer has
freely shared the expertise of his years of study and research, as well as contributed an
essay to this book. His judgment, his faith in our endeavor, his quite remarkable sense of
humor, and, not least, his friendship have sustained our efforts through what sometimes
seemed nearly insuperable difficulties. Ann Temkin, too, has been a collaborator in the
fullest sense. Her essay for this book was produced under the pressure of an unusually
tight deadline. In addition, Ms. Temkin did a vast amount of research, compiled the
bibliography, and handled the nitty-gritty of indemnity application, loan letters, and
checklists with skill and accuracy. I have relied on her insights and abilities in every phase of
this project from selection to installation. Without the labors, good spirits, and pro¬
fessional excellence of these two colleagues, neither exhibition nor book would have
been possible.
I also deeply appreciate the confidence and support of William Rubin, Director of the
Department of Painting and Sculpture, who entrusted me with this project. I should like as
well to express my thanks to Richard E. Oldenburg, Director of the Museum, who, despite
an incredibly busy schedule, always made time to assist with loan negotiations and other
problems that inevitably arose.
Almost all the departments of the Museum have assisted in one way or another with the
preparation of this exhibition and book. In the Department of Painting and Sculpture, I am
especially grateful to Rachel Esner, who, late in the game, took on the job of curatorial
assistant. In almost no time, she mastered manifold complexities of content and proce¬
dure; her abilities and professional competence have made a great contribution. I am also
indebted to Marjorie Nathanson, who worked with exemplary proficiency on the exhibi¬
tion in the early phases of its preparation, and to Alexandra Muzek and Joan Saunders,
both of whom most expertly dealt with a vast amount of correspondence and handled a
quantity of other tasks related to this project. The research Judith Cousins had previously
done on Klee provided me with a rich archive of material from the beginning of this
project. Her abilities and thoroughness have my admiration and I owe her a great deal.
Cora Rosevear, Assistant Curator, was exceptionally sensitive to problems of loan arrange¬
ments, and has given much-appreciated assistance. Despite the heavy demands of his
own schedule, Kynaston McShine, Senior Curator, has been unfailingly willing to listen to
my problems, and I have valued his advice deeply.
John Elderfield, Director of the Department of Drawings, and Riva Castleman, Director
of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, have lent to the exhibition and
responded generously to requests for information and assistance. At an earlier stage, Mr.
Elderfield was deeply involved in the Museum's plans for a Klee exhibition; he shared the
information he had gathered with me and made numerous helpful suggestions. Beatrice
Kernan, Assistant Curator of Drawings, and Wendy Weitman, Assistant Curator in the
Prints Department, have, with great good will, given me valuable help. The patience and
energy of Richard Palmer, Coordinator of Exhibitions, although sorely tried by the many
demands of the Museum's program, have neverfailed, and I owe him an incalculable debt
for the expertise and professionalism with which he has overseen the logistics of the
exhibition's organization. Special thanks are due the Department of the Registrar, par¬
ticularly Eloise Ricciardelli, Director of the Department, and Vlasta Odell and Gretchen
Wold, who have been superbly attentive to the many challenges posed by the assembly
of so many objects from diverse sources. The staff of the Department of Conservation
deserves, as always, real gratitude for its meticulous supervision of the handling and
protection of the loans entrusted to us. Its Director, Antoinette King, has been especially
helpful in deciphering Klee's working methods and analyzing his complex mediums.
Jerome Neuner, Production Manager, Exhibition Program, and Kathleen Loe, Exhibition
Supervisor, have been of invaluable help in devising the installation. I am also indebted to
Fred Coxen of the same department for his assistance. For their active interest and
energetic efforts to assure the broadest dissemination of information regarding the
exhibition, I am deeply grateful to Jeanne Collins, Director of Public Information, and
Jessica Schwartz, Associate Director. Philip Yenawine, Director of Education, Emily Kies,
Associate Educator, and Melissa Coley, Public Programs Assistant, have aided in the
preparation of exhibition texts, related lectures, and brochures. James Faris, Director of
Graphics, and Joseph Finocchiaro, Senior Designer, have also contributed their talents to
these matters. I also wish to thank John Limpert, Jr., Director of Development, Chuck Tebo,
Consultant, and Lacy Doyle, Grants Officer, for their many and valued efforts on behalf of
this project. Waldo Rasmussen, Director of the International Program, has taken time from
his own endeavors to advance the exhibition, for which he has my real gratitude. Beverly
Wolff, Secretary and General Counsel of the Museum, provided essential help with a
crucial loan negotiation, for which I cannot sufficiently thank her. Others who have
contributed in a multitude of ways are Laurie Arbeiter, Alistair Duguid, Rose Kolmetz,
Melanie Monios, and James Snyder.
The preparation of this book has been a separate task and one that was made extremely
difficult because of the unforeseeable time constraints under which it was produced. I
have received understanding and superb efficiency from everyone connected with this
publication, and I am more grateful than I can say. Louise Chinn, Acting Director of
Publications and Retail Operations, has supervised the project in collaboration with Harriet
Bee, Managing Editor. It was my great good fortune to work once again with Jane Fluegel,
who, with consummate skill and rare sensitivity, edited this complex book. She contrib¬
uted countless improvements and her sense of humor provided real relief amid the myriad
tensions of deadlines. Renate Franciscono supplied us with a superb translation of Jurgen
Glaesemer's text; she has my admiring respect and gratitude. Both Tim McDonough,
Production Manager, and Steven Schoenfelder, the designer of this book, exercised their
abilities and imaginative talents to overcome the problems of our tight schedule. They
were a pleasure to work with; they each have my admiration and thanks. I am indebted to
Nancy Kranz, Book Distribution and Foreign Rights Manager, who has made much
appreciated contributions, as well as to Lori Anne Salem and Maura Walsh. Richard Tooke,
Supervisor of Rights and Reproductions, and Mikki Carpenter, Archivist, have also played
important roles, as have Kate Keller, Chief Fine Arts Photographer, and Mali Olatunji, Fine
Arts Photographer.
Many friends, museum colleagues, and others have been generous in offering as¬
sistance. Felix Klee, the artists son, is not only a generous lender, but he also opened his
archives to me. Mr. Klee, his wife Livia, and his son Alexander received me in Bern with the
greatest kindness. The experience of coming to know them was an event itself in the
mounting of this exhibition.
Two friends and very generous lenders to whom I am especially grateful are Christian
Geelhaar, Director of the Kunstmuseum Basel, and William S. Lieberman, Chairman of the
Department of 20th Century Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Dr.
Geelhaar, an internationally recognized Klee scholar, spent many hours discussing the
exhibition and book with me; I have greatly valued his counsel. Mr. Lieberman made
extraordinary and deeply appreciated efforts to make available works from the recent
Berggruen donation to the Metropolitan. In this connection, I should also like to express
my gratitude to Heinz Berggruen, from whose extraordinary perspicaciousness in collect¬
ing we are benefiting, and who has generously given of his time to help us in a variety of
other ways.
Both Ernst Beyeler and Eleanore Saidenberg interrupted their own work to assist us in
securing U.S. Government Indemnification for foreign loans and helped us solve many
other problems as well. I am immensely grateful to them both. For their valued assistance
in a variety of ways I should like to thank Walter Bareiss, Vivian Barnett, Prinz Franz von
Bayern, Albert Elsen, Stefan Frey, Agnes Gund, Gerd Hatje, Marie-Franqoise Haenggli,
Robert Herbert, Philip Johnson, Stephen M. Kellen, Francis Kloeppel, Robert Motherwell,
Claudia Neugebauer, Linda Nochlin, Kenneth Noland, Richard Pommer, Frank Porter,
Sabine Rewald, Robert Rosenblum, Roger Shattuck, Thomas Schulte, Cherie Summers,
Nicholas Fox Weber, and Richard Zeisler.
I owe a very special debt to my friends Susan Jackson and George Sugarman, who not
only made available to me their time and talents, but who provided indispensable
personal support. They have my warmest gratitude.

Carolyn Lanchner
Curator of Painting and Sculpture
The Museum of Modern Art
 Klee and
the Avant-Garde
19 12-1940
ANN TEMKIN

0 bouches I'homme est a la recherche d'un nouveau thirties, his art occupied a vital place in the avant-
langage garde for which Apollinaire serves as spokesman.
Auquel le grammairien d'aucune langue n'aura rien a
dire.
Klee's career had begun with an unusually long
0 mouths man is in search of a new language period of self-imposed apprenticeship. After
About which no grammarian of any tongue could study in Munich from 1899 until 1901, and a tour
speak.1
of Italy during 1901-02, he had worked alone in
—Guillaume Apollinaire
his native town of Bern, Switzerland. In 1906, at
Apollinaire's words voice the project of an in¬ the age of twenty-seven, he married and settled
ternational avant-garde that came of age during in Munich. Klee's natural skills as a draftsman did
the second decade of this century. The prior not extend to painting, and he spent the next
generation had lifted art's obligation to imitative five years there slowly coming to terms with the
representation, and the possibilities seemed work first of the Impressionists and then of van
vast. If language had once dictated the form of Gogh, Cezanne, and Matisse: "I wanted to
literature, now literature would structure lan¬ know all these things, so as not to bypass any
guage; if man's world had shaped his painting, out of ignorance, and to assimilate some parts,
now painting was to remodel the world. Myriad no matter how small, of each domain that was
manifestos, exhibitions, journals, and perfor¬ to be given up."3 When Klee wrote this in the
mances charted new territory for the human spring of 1911, he knew himself to be on the
imagination. verge of finding an independent voice. That
Seldom do we associate Paul Klee with this winter, he allied himself with the artists of the
flurry of activity. The collaborative enterprise and Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), and thereby an¬
cafe leisure so central to our concept of the nounced his entry into the avant-garde.
avant-garde held little appeal for an artist who The Blaue Reiter was not a movement but
preferred to see himself as "a cosmic point of simply a loose circle of artists united by Wassily
reference.''2 Klee produced a great deal of his Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Kandinsky's belief in
work in relative isolation and carefully cultivated the spiritual essence underlying all the arts
an image of autonomy that his biographers have formed the basis of the group's philosophy. Its
faithfully echoed. He shared with most great formal activities were confined to two exhibi¬
artists a distaste for the labels of "isms," and it is tions and to the publication in 1912 of the Blaue
his work that has escaped most cleanly such Reiter Almanac. Klee sent seventeen drawings
classification. to the second exhibition in February 1912, and
Yet Klee's aura of remove need not prevent us was represented in the Almanac with a small
from situating him within the avant-garde of his illustration of one of his wash drawings.4 Yet this
day. Indeed, the posture of the outsider strikes at period held far greater importance for Klee than
the very heart of the avant-garde phenomenon: such facts would indicate. The Blaue Reiter pro¬
it was only by defining themselves as "outsiders" vided the ambience that brought a decisive end 13
from mainstream culture that the avant-garde to Klee's novitiate. The work of Kandinsky, Marc,
had invented, and continually renewed, an ex¬ and August Macke eloquently affirmed his own
clusive group of "insiders." Paul Klee was above ideal of an art that possessed "inner" rather than
all a true insider's man. Although by the mid¬ "material" necessity. Klee regarded Kandinsky,
twenties he had achieved considerable popular his elder by thirteen years, as both ally and
renown, it was among his fellow artists that Klee teacher;5 his friendship with Marc was to be
found his strongest audience. From his first ma¬ among the most meaningful of his life.
ture work in the teens to his ultimate elabora¬ Munich now becamea place where one could
tion of a powerful personal language in the study the art recently made in France, Italy, and
Russia. This exposure motivated Klee to visit of the cabaret as a home for performance, mu¬
Paris in April 1912, and there he received a more sic, and painting, as well. Their displays of visual
art depended on whatever modern works they
galerie dada
extensive introduction to the work of the Fauves zarich bahnhofstrasse 19 eingang tiefenhofe 12
neue kunst und literatur antiquitaten
and Cubists. Klee visited Robert Delaunay, managed to beg or borrow. Expressionist,
whose painting would also come to hold lasting Cubist, and Futurist pictures were imported on sturm-ausstellung I aerie 17 mire - 7 april '* »
value for his own.6 Back in Munich, Klee found the strength of the cabaret members' acquisi¬ campendonk van heemskerk kandinsky klee
tions and contacts abroad. carl mense gabriele mUnter neli waiden
that the Blaue Reiter affiliation quickly widened tAgBch 2 - 6 uhr dnirttt 1 Ir

his opportunities for exhibitions, if not for sales. Ball had a particular reverence for Klee, and
In 1913, the art impresario Herwarth Walden his work became highly prominent when Dada samstag 17 min nachmittag 3 uhr crOltnung
tr tzara und h hail

welcomed Klee into the orbit of his Galerie Der headquarters moved from the cabaret to einleitungsworte
mlttwoch 21 rain nachmlltag 4 uhr
Sturm in Berlin.7 Galerie Dada (fig. 1). The gallery's two inaugural I h ncttzel
fahrung durch die galerie
Th’e outbreak of war in August 1914 abruptly exhibitions, in March and April 1917, featured
ssmstag 24 min abends Kalb 9 uhr
undid the fruitful milieu of the Blaue Reiter. the work of the Sturm artists, and both included tr tzara
I’expressionisme et Part abstrait
Macke and Marc were drafted that fall, and the that of Klee. On March 31, the art critic Wal- mlttwoch 28 mire nachmittag 4 uhr
ha ns arp
traffic necessary to the group's activity came to a demar Jollos gave a lecture on Klee, of which no fahrung durch die galerie
halt. By then, however, Klee had received his record remains. Jollos went on to organize a samstag 31 rain abends halb 9 uhr
dr w logos
start in an international artistic community. Not special one-week-long exhibition of Klee's work paul klee
long after Klee's quiet entry into the Blaue Rei¬ in May. Marcel Janco described the show as an mlttwoch 4 april nachmittag 4 uhr
I h ndtzei

ter, his work became the subject of an out¬ extraordinary success, "the great event of the fflhrung durch die galerie
tarastag 7 april abends halb 9 ate
spoken enthusiasm on the part of his peers. In a Galerie Dada." He termed Klee's art a revelation b bail
kandinsky
brief span of time, Klee's position in the avant- for them all: "In his beautiful work we saw the dntritt nadunHtags I tr abends 3 tr ud I Ir 50 ctt

garde shifted from apprentice to master. reflection of all our efforts to interpret the soul
Fig. 1. Sturm-Ausstellung. Exhibition announcement,
of primitive man, to plunge into the unconscious
Galerie Dada, Zurich, 1917. 10/2 x 25/4 in. (27 x 21
and the instinctive power of creation, to dis¬
cm). Kunsthaus Zurich
cover the child's pure and direct sources of
Klee and Dada
creativity."13
Klee's work seemed to open the way to the Elysian Janco's remarks indicate the great influence
fields we saw stretched out before us.8
the Blaue Reiter philosophy had had upon Zurich
—Hans Richter
Dada. That aesthetic accounts for the constant
A prevailing image of the Dadaists as a noisy presence of primitive art at the gallery and for
bunch of agitators seems to hold little room for the effect of the primitive on the work of the
the harmonious art of Paul Klee. Nonetheless, it artists there. The Blaue Reiter focus on a work's
was the members of the Dada circle in Zurich inherent authenticity had pulled into the realm
who first recognized in Klee the importance he of art a vast body of objects outside the bounds
soon would acquire. Under the aegis of Hugo previously defined by our tradition. The bronze
Ball, this early phase of Dada had a decidedly statue and the varnished and gilt-framed canvas
pacific and even spiritualistic flavor. Ball came to no longer served as guarantors of authentic art;
Zurich directly from Munich, and his thought instead, they signaled the counterfeit. The work
closely echoed the utopian mysticism of Kan¬ of children, asylum patients, and folk artists re¬
dinsky, whom he had known well.9 Ball initiated vealed true eloquence in sculptures of dough
Dada with the founding of the Cabaret Voltaire and portraits in finger paint. Accordingly, pro¬
in February 1916. The name explains a lot about fessional artists shed the trappings of what once
the club: it lived under the spirit of the Enlight¬ had been considered fine art. This liberation
enment philosopher who revealed as ridiculous owed a great debt to the example of Cubist
an insistent faith in the sense and justice of a collage, which had introduced to the picture
world gone mad. Like Voltaire's Candide, the plane miscellaneous items from daily life. It did
generation facing maturity during World War I not matter that the Cubists' motivations were
could not accept the concept of this as "the best more formal than ethical. The Germans inter¬
of all possible worlds." preted collage—and Cubism in general—as a
Klee was already sympathetic to the message more soulful project than it was to its makers in
from "Father Voltaire."10 He had first read Can¬ Paris.
dide in 1906, and five years later had begun to Klee's materials and techniques do indeed
illustrate the tale (p. 128). Klee matched in his ink suggest an element of craft allied more closely
drawings "the exquisitely spare and exact ex¬ to the folk artist than to the professional. Begin¬
pression"11 he admired in Voltaire's prose style. ning in 1914, he devised combinations of paints,
His laconic, if witty, figures handily refute the glues, fabrics, and papers that defy present anal¬
ebullient optimism of Pangloss; not until the ysis, despite the recipelike notations he made in
post-Surrealist work of Giacometti would wiry his oeuvre catalogue.14 Oils and watercolors
line again so eloquently convey the human con¬ were painted on grounds that had been richly
dition within an absurd universe. Candide's re¬ built up with plaster, chalk, and encaustic. Sup¬
sponse to such a universe—simply to cultivate ports included the finest handmade paper and
one's own garden—seemed correct both to linen, but also wrapping paper, cotton rem¬
Klee and to the Zurich Dadaists. According to nants, and, during his military duty, aircraft can¬
Ball, the cabaret's sole purpose "was to draw vas. Like Kandinsky, Klee earlier had experi¬
attention, across the barriers of war and na¬ mented with painting on glass, a Bavarian folk
tionalism, to the few independent spirits who tradition remarked in the Blaue Reiter Almanac.
live for other ideals."12 Klee never used the medium of collage as a
The habitues of the Cabaret Voltaire were bearer of content, as the Cubists did with the
primarily poets and writers, but they conceived word play of their papiers colles. However, he
Fig. 2. Marcel Janco (1895-1984). Mask, 1919. Card¬ Fig. 3. Jean (Hans) Arp (1887-1966). Enak's Tears
board, twine, gouache, and pastel, 173A x 8Vs x 2 in. (Terrestrial Forms), 1917. Painted wood relief, 34 x
(45 x 22 x 5 cm). Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 23/8 x 23/8in.(86.3 x 58.5 x 6 cm). The Museum of
Musee National d'Art Moderne Modern Art, New York, Purchase Fund

often superimposed sheets and strips of paper he falls in love with a green leaf, a star, a but¬
to affect the size and texture of his composi¬ terfly's wing, and since the heavens and all in¬
tions, and he made judicious use of scissors to finity are reflected in them, he paints those in
reduce or rearrange them. Klee mounted his too."17
works on paper on simple cardboard mats,
while the oils were housed in rudimentary Klee's work, and that of Kandinsky, held the
wooden frames he made himself. greatest importance for the Zurich Dadaists in its
Klee's gift for drawing magical effects from development of an abstract formal language
humble materials set the tone for the art made that aimed toward symbolic expression rather
and exhibited at the Galerie Dada in 1917. Jollos's
Klee exhibition took place simultaneously with
one of Graphik, Broderie, Relief, which included
African and children's art alongside that of Klee
and the Dadaists. The exhibition's concentration
on graphics, embroidery, and reliefs indicates
the Dadaists' disregard for the traditional West¬
ern biases of high art. Sophie Taeuber-Arp cre¬
ated exquisite abstractions in brightly colored
yarns, while Marcel Janco made fantastic masks
(fig. 2) from the inspired use of cardboard,
crayon, cloth, and twine. Hans Arp blurred the
boundaries of painting and sculpture in
mounted reliefs (fig. 3) of crudely painted wood.
These were made possible by Cubist precedents,
but their biomorphic forms were far removed
from the Cubist order. Arp extended the primi-
tivist thinking of his peers to an explicit declara¬
tion of nature as his model.15
Nature played a dominant role in Klee's own
aesthetic. His closeness to nature is central not
only to the subjects of his work, but to his con¬
cept of the working process. In 1923 Klee would
plainly state his grounds in "Ways of Nature
Study": "The artist is a man, himself nature and
a part of nature in natural space."16 His wonder¬ Fig. 4. Paul Klee (1879-1940). Head Made from a Piece
ful figures formed from tile polished in the River of Tile Polished by the Lech, Larger, Bust More Elabo¬
Lech (fig. 4) literally bring nature into his art, but rate (Kopf aus einem im Lech geschliffenen
Ziegelstuck, grosser, Buste, ausgearbeiteter),
its presence is felt in every composition. Ball's
1919/34. Plaster, reinforced with sticks, and tile
observation in his diary in 1917 indicates that he painted with watercolor and India ink, 12 x 53/s x 2V»
profoundly understood Klee's microcosmic vi¬ in. (30.5 x 13.5 x 6.5 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul
sion of the universe: "In an age of the colossus Klee Stiftung
than material description. The painters' ability to
reject the dictates of resemblance directly re¬
lated to the poets' aim to shake off a syntax and
vocabulary chained to literal meaning. The ap¬
parently nonsensical poetry of Dada sought for
letters and sounds the same renaissance that the
painting of Klee and Kandinsky had provided for
line and color. This achievement was central to
the Dadaists' iconoclasm. They saw language as
the shaper of history; a reform of language had
to precede societal change. Current habits of
usage seemed damaged beyond repair, and
Hugo Ball was prompted to wonder whether
"sign language was the true language of Fig. 5. Paul Klee. Carpet of Memory (Teppich der Erin-
paradise.''18 nerung), 1914 / 193. Oil over linen with chalk and oil
This question, again reminiscent of the Blaue ground, mounted on cardboard, 153/4 x 20/2 in. (40.2
Reiter, suggests why the recent work of Paul x 51.8 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

Klee would have prompted Ball's great admira¬

tion. The painting Carpet of Memory {1914; fig.
5) provides the best example with which to ex¬
plore this. It is one of the first works that realized
Klee's desire to go beyond description of visible
reality and instead to incarnate the world of the
artist's mind. Carpet of Memory followed shortly
upon a trip Klee made to Tunisia in April 1914, in
the company of August Macke and Louis
Moilliet. The trip was profoundly important to
Klee, for it was during this time that he crystal¬
lized the formal powers he knew were necessary
to the invention of a personal voice. The land¬
scape watercolors he made "after nature" in
Tunisia (pp. 134-35) supply the pictorial basis for
Carpet of Memory: a graphic scaffolding in¬
debted to Analytical Cubism joining squares of
translucent color that can be traced to the paint¬
ings of Windows (fig. 6) of Delaunay. Now, how¬
ever, the colors and lines sink and float in a deep,
amorphous space, formed by a thick ground of
tan plaster applied on muslin.19 Fig. 6. Robert Delaunay (1885-1941). Windows, 1912.
The image no longer reads as a naturalistic Encaustic on canvas, 31/2 x 27% in. (79.9 x 70 cm).
landscape; nor do we take it for a portrait of a The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Sidney
and Harriet Janis Collection (fractional gift)
carpet. The lush uneven texture does recall the
soft pile of an antique rug, the muslin edges its
frayed borders, theXs and circles its knots and
designs. But the title invokes far richer reso¬
nances. Like a worn carpet that bears witness to
the people's lives it has shared, this work mate¬
rializes the imagination of its creator. Without
the more explicit nostalgic imagery of Marc
Chagall's / and the Village (1911; fig. 7), Klee's
painting expresses the same desire to render
visible the spirit of a place and time remem¬
bered. Klee said a great deal about his art and his
time when he described himself in 1915 as "ab¬
stract with memories."20 For Klee's work ac¬
knowledged that the act of "seeing” not only
consists of immediate optical sensations, but
also involves associations of feelings, things, and
events that have long since filtered, unnamed,
into our imagination. Carpet of Memory refuses
to fix visual experience in a single time or space,
or in a single scene or idea. Without needing to
know the referents, we accept meaning in its
hovering signs.

During the second decade of the century, the

Fig. 7. Marc Chagall (1887-1985). I and the Village,
desire to rejuvenate their respective art forms 1911. Oil on canvas, 755/s x 595/s in. (192.1 x 151.4
prompted the artists of the avant-garde to focus cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Mrs.
fresh attention on the most basic elements of Simon Guggenheim Fund
 their formal mediums and vocabulary. It also of 1916 based on Chinese poetry, which enjoyed
provoked a different, but integrally related, a high regard among Westerners during the
strategy: the deliberate confounding of the teens.23 A Chinese poem derives its meaning
boundaries between the verbal and plastic arts. not only from the words of the text but from
The long-standing segregation of the various art their disposition on the page and the rhythmic
forms seemed to artists of the day as arbitrary as and textural quality of the calligraphy. The verbal
conventions of pictorial space or poetic meter. and visual are united further in those characters
Indeed, when the avant-garde looked outside of the language that derive from the image of
post-Renaissance Western culture—to Oriental, the object or action they signify. Klee's water-
medieval, and folk art—they confronted strong colors, without using the Chinese characters
traditions in which the roles of images and themselves, sought an equivalent marriage of
words were inextricable. poetic and pictorial space.
By the time of World War I, both the painters Klee's most beautiful endeavor in this direc¬
and poets of Western Europe had begun to tion is the painting Once Emerged from the Gray
trespass beyond their respective frontiers. Num¬ of Night. . . (1918; fig. 9). The structure of the
bers and letters appeared on Cubist paintings; poem—whose source is unknown—deter¬
thereafter, collage fully incorporated text as an mines the structure of the composition. A wall
integral part of the experience of a picture. The of regularly spaced color squares provides the
Futurists' extremely influential parole in liberta basis of the image. Then, the black ink lines of
(free-word poetry) exploited the sizes and colors the arabic letters delineate the subdivisions of
Q of typography to endow the letters of their color within the squares: small triangles, circles,
L R U M R
BS OIS I B1> ENT poems with visual expression. Apollinaires cal- and odd shapes appear as tesserae in a mosaic.
Too* A touR llgrammes disposed the lines of a poem in a The upper and lower registers of the composi¬
Renaissent au ccEOft des »»oeteS
visual image of the objects described by the text. tion—divided by a strip of silver paper—corre¬
U L In "Heart Crown and Mirror" (fig. 8), the letters spond to the two stanzas of the poem. The text
4
of the poet's name form his image in the "mir¬ also dictates the color scheme of the painting:
ror" that encloses them.21 from beginning to end an emergence from gray
Klee was a vital participant in this exploration to sparkling blue.
IK*
of the verbal possibilities of plastic art and the The conjunction of painting and poetry
*OHT

plastic possibilities of poetics. His titles long had speaks directly to a central axiom of Klee's aes¬
figured as essential components of the style and thetic: the insistence that "space is a temporal
Guillaume aj0t
meaning of his work. Their inscription on the concept."24 In his poem pictures, the presence of
Apollinaire "
mats of his works on paper invites the viewer to text explicitly introduces into the process of be¬

VRAl
combine the experiences of reading and look¬ holding a temporal quality. At first glance we see
COM ing. Klee understood that poetic expression a flickering mosaic, but then as the letters
could also stem from the forms of individual emerge from the colored pattern, we pro¬
letters, apart from the context of words; thus gress—reading—through the page. In fact, it
we find them set in the midst of such works as was a distinction between space and time that
Composition with Windows (1919; p. 153).22 had long sustained the divorce of painting and
Fig. 8. Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918). "Heart
Crown and Mirror" ("Coeur Couronne et Miroir"). Klee's first attempt to fuse fully the concept of poetry in Western tradition. The enormously in¬
Calligramme, 1914 poem and painting was a cycle of six watercolors fluential writings of the eighteenth-century
critic Gotthold Lessing maintained that the fac¬
tor of time dictated the arts' different roles:
Fig. 9. Paul Klee. Once Emerged from the Gray of painting must be confined to static representa¬
Night. . . (Einstdem Grau der Nacht enttaucht. . .),
tion, for we perceive it with one glance or gaze,
1918 / 17. Watercolor and pen drawing in India ink
over pencil on paper, cut into two parts, with strip of whereas the dynamic potential of poetry stems
silver paper between, mounted on cardboard, 8% x from our process of reading in time. This di¬
6/4 in. (22.6 x 15.8 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul chotomy held strong sway in the Western tradi¬
Klee Stiftung
tion until the beginning of this century.
Klee lent no credence to Lessing's Laocoon,
"on which we squandered study time when we
were young."25 In 1912 he had first seen the
paintings in which the Futurists responded to
Lessing by trying to depict the act of motion.26
Klee eventually devised a far more profound
solution to the challenge. His mature work was
governed by the idea that the process of behold¬
ing takes place over time, just as does the pro¬
cess of creation. As we shall see, he constructed
his pictures so as to require the viewer's eye to
meander gradually through the pictorial space.
Klee's explicit conjunction of poetry and paint¬
ing forms a critical point in this development.

The exploration of the intersection of poetry

and painting provides a strong link between
the work of Klee and that of Kurt Schwitters.
Schwitters's invention of Merz in 1919 depended
closely on the lessons he had learned from his
 Fig. 10. Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948). Merz 22, 1920. Fig. 12. Paul Klee. "C'forSchwitters ("C" fGrSchwit¬
Collage of railroad and bus tickets, wallpaper, ration ters), 1923 / 161. Oil transfer drawing and watercolor,
stamps, 6Va x 53/sin.(16.8 x 13.6 cm). The Museum 11% x 83/4 in. (27.9 x 22.2 cm). Private collection,
of Modern Art, New York, Katherine S. Dreier Bequest Milan

of Klee at Der Sturm in January 1919. The draw¬

ings on exhibition preceded the invention of
Merz, but already they suggested that Schwit¬
>
ters's Merz activity, like so much of German and
{ ■| American Dada, would differ from Klee's work
in its accommodation of the urban and indus¬
& 5 S
trial environment.29 In the teens Klee did not as a
rule admit into his work the physical presence of
printed imagery or typeface: Striding Figure
(1915; fig. 11), drawn on a handbill, is the rare
exception. The city street and the establish¬
ments that line it seem foreign to a world of the
tiergarten, the nordliche wald, and the berg-
dorf. Schwitters's forays for ticket stubs, re¬
ceipts, and used stamps find their counterpart in
Klee's hunts for precious pebbles, shells, and
pine cones. Yet the two sorts of romance are not
as far apart as they first may seem. Schwitters's
love for the artifacts of city life gives his work a
spirit closer than any other to the love for nature
evident in Klee's work. A gift Klee made to
Schwitters in 1923 testifies to his affectionate
respect for this artist. In the oil transfer drawing
"C" for Schwitters (1923; fig. 12), the meticu¬
//
•♦n -r lously rendered stamps and coins masquerade
as collage elements and offer a marvelous exam¬
Fig. 11. Paul Klee. Striding Figure (Ausschreitende
Figur), 1915 / 75. Pen and ink on newsprint, mounted ple of pseudo-Merz.
on cardboard, 10 x 6% in. (25.4 x 16.5 cm). The art of Merz, like that of Klee, did not seek
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung overtly to effect political change. In this attitude
Schwitters stood closer to Klee than to his fellow
poetic activity. It had proved to him that a work German Dadaists. For Klee and for Schwitters,
of art is built upon combinations of basic ele- the conjunction of poetry and painting suited
18 ments: "A logically consistent poem evaluates their respective pictorial goals. For the Dadaists
letters and groups of letters against each in Berlin, the grafting of verbal and visual means
other"27 In the same way, Schwitters decided, a formed their most potent tool of sociopolitical
painter might "evaluate object against object by attack. In general, the irony of Dada became
sticking or nailing them down side by side."28 In more pointed in its final phase. Klee's work was
every Merz (fig. 10) elements of different mate¬ not as pertinent to the later Dadaists, although
rials, scale, and significative purpose are equal¬ he aimed his wit at many of the same targets. A
ized as they unite to create a single pictorial drawing such as Metaphysical Transplant(1920;
structure. fig. 13) gently ridicules the clumsy mechanics of
Schwitters's work was shown alongside that man's sexuality, but it does not take on the mor-
Fig. 13. Paul Klee. Metaphysical Transplant (Transplantation metaphysisch), 1920 / 180. Watercolor over oil
transfer drawing on paper, mounted on cardboard, 103/» x 1714 in. (27.3 x 43.8 cm). Collection Helen Keeler
Burke, Illinois

dant bite of the Amorous Display (1917; fig. 14) /

staged by Francis Picabia. And when Klee called
forth his skill for caricature, as in The Great
Kaiser, Armed for Battle (1921; p. 164), it was
hardly with a venom for which the photomon-
teur John Heartfield could have found respect.
Nonetheless, in 1919 Tristan Tzara still saw fit to
represent Klee's work in the Dada Anthologie,
which he issued from Zurich to an international
audience.30 And for Max Ernst, as for the
Dadaists in Zurich, Klee's pictorial iconoclasm
was recommendation enough to claim him for
the Dada debut in Cologne.
This event, the Bulletin D exhibition, was
organized by Ernst with Johannes Baargeld in
the fall of 1919, and it formed the most sensa¬
tional context in which Klee's art had yet ap¬
peared.31 The catalog's inflammatory texts tar¬
geted any and all aesthetic objects: "Cezanne ist
chewing gum." The visitors found the work of
Ernst, Baargeld, Arp, Klee, and others displayed
next to art made by children and folk painters,
African sculpture, and found objects such as a
Fig. 14. Francis Picabia (1879-1953). Amorous Display,
piano hammer ("Die vollkommenste Plastik 1917. Oil on board, 37Vs x 28V8in.(95 6 x 72.7 cm).
hingegen ist der Klavierhammer"). Morton G. Neumann Family Collection, Chicago
At the time of the Bulletin D exhibition, Ernst
was a Dada neophyte. His previous work fit into the bizarre incongruities of the lithographs Fiat
the Expressionist idiom of Der Sturm, with fan¬ modes: pereat ars (fig. 15). These images echo
tasy landscapes closely related to those of Cha¬ work such as de Chiricos The 5eer(1915; fig. 16)
gall and Klee. In the summer of 1919, after in their portrayals of inexplicable events and
seeing Klee's work at Hans Goltz's gallery in personages in a seemingly veristic space; they
Munich, Ernst sought out the artist and returned declare that an apparent obedience to rules of
to Cologne with an armload of works for the perspective by no means ensures that a picture 19

projected exhibition.32 obey the rules of this world. De Chirico decisively

Ernst's visit to Munich is usually remarked as a proved that what we call illusiomstic space is
turning point in his work for reasons other than truly no more than that.
his acquaintance with Klee. In the sort of for¬ Klee, too, would use the license provided by
tuitous encounter that Giorgio de Chirico de Chirico to subvert an accepted pictorial lan¬
seemed to demand of his admirers, Ernst's dis¬ guage by means of itself. During the twenties,
covery of the Italian artist occurred during this he would create a variety of perspective pic¬
same visit to Goltz's shop.33 De Chirico's work tures, all of which meticulously diagram a "real¬
inspired Ernst's first venture into a Dada idiom: istic" pictorial space. The transversals remain in
place to allay any doubts. But if these diagram¬
matic conventions once allowed us to accept a
volumed space ready for flesh-and-blood peo¬
ple, this is no longer the case in Klee's Room
Perspective with Inhabitants (1921; p. 162). As if
automatic, the diagramming cannot be stopped:
the people also become mere figments of pictorial
convention. The black smudges from Klee's oil
transfer technique reinforce the uneasiness that
results when our confident expectations of sci¬
ence have been frustrated. In the Perspective
with Open Door (1923; fig. 17), the tail black
opening that looms at the back of the meticu¬
lously constructed room asserts what is implicit
in all the ghostly chambers. This picture dia¬
grams the fact that the intelligence is but the
vestibule of our true personality.

Klee and the Surrealists

And so, on that day ... I came to know animals of

soul, birds of intelligence, fish of heart, plants of
dream.34
—Rene Crevel

As Dada was transplanted to Paris in the early

twenties, a number of the future Surrealists
brought with them a close familiarity with Klee's
art. Arp and Tzara in Zurich and Ernst in Ger¬
many had met him personally and had exhibited
his work. Yet we find the poet and critic Louis Fig. 15. Max Ernst (1891-1976). Plate from Fiat modes:
Aragon responsible for the first reference to pereat ars ("Let There be Fashion: Down with Art"),
Klee published in Paris. In the November 1922 1919. Lithograph, printed in black, sheet 17/8 x 12 in.
(43.5 x 30.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New
issue of Litterature, a journal that bridged the
York, Purchase Fund
way from Dada to Surrealism, Aragon's "Letter
from Berlin" briefly alluded to Klee: "In Weimar Fig. 16. Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978). The Seer,
there flourishes a plant that resembles a witch's 1915. Oil on canvas, 35/4 x 27Va in. (89 x 70.1 cm).
tooth. Here it's not yet realized that the younger The Museum of Modern Art, New York, James Thrall
Soby Bequest
generation is going to prefer Paul Klee to his
predecessors."35 Fig. 17. Paul Klee. Perspective with Open Door (Per-
The distance between Weimar and Paris spektive mit offener TOre), 1923 / 143. Oil transfer
loomed far greater in spirit than in kilometers, drawing and watercolor on paper, mounted on card¬
board, 10/4 x 105/s in. (26 x 27 cm). Collection
and the inclusion of a Bauhausmeister in a Sur¬
Rosengart, Lucerne
realist exhibition now seems a superb feat of
Lautreamontesque incongruity. Klee's arrival at
the Bauhaus in 1921 had initiated a decade of
rigorous exploration of the fundamental princi¬
ples of his art. His theoretical investigations of
pictorial form and space would fill thousands of
pages of notes and diagrams. Yet, as distinct
from the activity of his Constructivist colleagues
at the Bauhaus, Klee's theoretical work re¬
mained at the service of an art purely pictorial
and unrelentingly individualist.36 In Paris, the
Surrealists' fascination with the poetry of Klee's
painting overcame what would have been a real
distaste for the theory and pedagogy so integral
to his work. As the poet Rene Crevel admitted:
"The painter gifted with poetry can find in the
driest geometry the ladders he needs for his
deep diving."37 In the early twenties Klee's
art became a key inspiration to the young
artists with whom Andre Breton founded a new
movement.

Surrealism inherited from Dada many of its

cultural attitudes and poetic practices, but the
Dadaist legacy contained no coherent concept
Fig. 18. Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and Man Ray (1890-1976). Dust Breeding (Void le domaine de Rrose
Selavy), 1920. Photograph. Published in Litterature (Paris), October 1, 1922

of visual style. Initially, Breton elected to his ly, the third issue of La Revolution Surrealiste
cause independent predecessors, much as the reads as a field for the internecine battle over the
Dadaists in Zurich first filled their gallery with the viability of a Surrealist painting. The prominent
work of Sturm artists. A famous footnote to the place of Klee's work in the magazine squarely
Manifesto of Surrealism enumerates painters situates it within that debate.
whose work Breton found compatible with Sur¬ This issue begins with a section of "Reves,"
realist goals. He was liberal in his choices, includ¬ dreams recounted by several children and by
ing among them Paolo Uccello and the principal Surrealist poets. This material testifies to the
stars of the Paris avant-garde, as well as de central role that the dream occupied in the Sur¬
Chirico and Klee.38 Breton emphasized, how¬ realist aesthetic; Breton approvingly noted in his
ever, that these artists did not fully define a true manifesto the sign that Saint-Pol-Roux put on
Surrealist painting. By the time of the first Sur¬ his door while asleep: "Poet at work."40 At the
realist exhibition in November 1925, he had end of this selection of dream narratives we find
found new recruits to shape a much firmer ros¬ an illustration of Klee's Castle of the Faithful
ter. Klee, Picasso, de Chirico, Man Ray, and An¬ (1924; p. 207). Banded lines, spread murallike
dre Masson remained, joined by Arp, Ernst, Joan across the sheet, mark the portals and crenella-
Miro, and Pierre Roy.39 tions of a majestic edifice beneath a starry sky. A
As has often been recounted, the possibility luscious blue, indifferent to material distinc¬
of a Surrealist painting had not gone un¬ tions, grounds the entire scene. It is not only in
challenged. Pierre Naville, first editor with Ben¬ dreams that we can conjure other civilizations,
jamin Peret of La Revolution Surrealiste, firmly nor need we express them only in words. These
opposed any concept of the aesthetic. Accord¬ delicate white lines incised in watercolor remind
ingly, he designed the journal after Nature, a us how quickly the frost on a windowpane can
nineteenth-century science magazine, rather create a fairy-tale world; and how easily Dust
than as a typical journal of fine arts. In the third Breeding (1920; fig. 18) on Duchamp's Large
issue of this magazine, which appeared in April Glass can construct a domain for Rrose Selavy.
1925, he published his notorious disavowal of Andre Breton had a particular fondness for
the possibility of a Surrealist painting. the image of the castle. He used it frequently to
The story is not so simple, however. It is this house the wanderings of the Surrealist imagina¬
very issue of La Revolution Surrealiste that pub¬ tion, the haunts of the marvelous. The Man¬
licly welcomed Paul Klee into the Surrealist orbit. ifesto of Surrealism presents a long description
Antonin Artaud, the primary voice of the third of Breton's own Castle of the Faithful, where the
issue, admired Klee's work and included repro¬ Surrealist writers lived "as permanent guests."
ductions of four watercolors by Klee among the ("Picasso goes hunting in the neighborhood ")
texts. These carefully placed illustrations, to¬ Breton had only disdain for the skeptical reader.
gether with several by Masson and one by de "Is he certain that this castle into which I cor¬
Chirico, offered a strong argument for how one dially invite him is [only] an image? What if this
indeed might conceive a Surrealist art. Ultimate¬ castle really existed! My guests are there to
 Fig. 19. Paul Klee. 17, Astray (Siebzehn, irr), 1923 / 136. Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted on cardboard,
87/s x 111/4 in. (22.5 x 28.5 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel

prove it does; their whim is the luminous road pieces, and which knows how to listen as well as
that leads to it."41 to speak.
Artaud designed this issue of La Revolution A hostility toward Western culture pervades
Surrealiste as a sharp attack on Western culture this issue of La Revolution Surrealiste, the cover
and conventions. The lead article, written by of which announces 1925 as the end of the
Theodore Lessing and entitled "L'Europe et Christian era.44 Paul Eluard contributed a protest
I'Asie,” extols the Oriental way of life and de¬ against the colonialist greed of European gov¬
nounces the crass logic and materialism of the ernments and the Church's willingness to serve
West.42 At the same time, the essay indirectly as their handmaiden; the beatific creature of
addresses the magazines inclusion of Klee's Klee's An Angel Serves a Small Breakfast (1920;
works, one of which concludes Lessing's article. p. 161) provides Eluard's piece an ironic neighbor.
By 1925, the mythology that surrounded Klee's On page 27, however, the subject shifts to art.
work emphasized the Oriental mien of the artist There we find the innocuous paragraphs that
and his art. The first monograph on Klee, written contain Pierre Naville's now famous declaration:
by Leopold Zahn and published in 1920, opened "Everyone knows that there is no such thing as
with a long excerpt from the teachings of surrealist painting!,/iS Denying any concept of
Tschuang-Tse and discussed Klee's art in the taste, Naville defined his aesthetic as nothing
context of the Tao.43 Subsequent writers fur¬ but "the memory and the pleasure of the eyes,"
thered this analogy, and Klee's Bauhaus students impossible to fix in time or space. Art is an
perceived him as their Buddha in residence (see integral part of our lives—like dressing, un¬
Glaesemer, fig. 15). dressing—but, Naville claimed, never a distinct
The description of Oriental culture in "L'Eu¬ or deliberate act.
rope et I'Asie" doubles as a contemporary read¬ Far more prominent than this text is the large
ing of Klee's work and illuminates the Surrealists' reproduction below it: Klee's watercolor 17,
admiration for him. Lessing explained that East¬ Astray (1923; fig.19). Indeed, it seems to ride on
ern art, poetry, and philosophy are inextricable the page as a merry challenge to the statements
from each other and from daily life itself. Orien¬ above. In this picture, abstract signs—the num¬
22 tal man allies himself with nature rather than the ber seventeen, the German word irr, the two
machine, and heroic achievements are of lesser arrows—inhabit and possess the same reality
value than the attainment of peaceful absorp¬ as that of the man and lady embodied from
tion into the cosmos. Correspondingly, the Ori¬ spermatoid forms. All swim across an aqueous
entals are indifferent to our notions of causality; space of irregular splotches and vague horizon¬
their interest turns on what we would call coinci¬ tal zones formed by repeated washings of
dence. If Lessing's analysis amounts to simplistic watercolor.
romanticization, it is one that serves nicely the This space, in particular, provides a solution to
Surrealist agenda. It also affirms an art that does Naville's complaints. Naville protested that man's
not trumpet its merits in grandiose master¬ inner spirit could not be contained in formats
 "invariablement rectangulaires." His gibe specif¬ position of man's inner life, without mediation
ically targeted the system of Analytical Cubism, imposed by convention or reason. Klee's graphic
against which Naville joined his Surrealist fel¬ approach can be seen to have anticipated these
lows in a classic Oedipal revolt. Naville objected aims. Already in 1917, Hugo Ball had announced
to Cubism's adherence to the model of the ma¬ Klee's gift for finding "the shortest path from the
terial world. As its subjects followed in the tradi¬ idea to the page."so
tion of the portrait, still life, and landscape, so its Klee's draftsmanship formed the basis of his
formal system echoed an external reality. The aesthetic, and it is to this which we must look for
horizontals and verticals that form the scaffold¬ an understanding of his relation to automatism.
ing of an Analytical Cubist composition confirm Klee's drawing process primarily relied neither
the structure determined by the stretched and on the exterior world nor on the preexisting
framed canvas. This in turn imitates the Carte¬ format of the pictorial surface; "life drawing"
sian system that Western man has imposed played no part in his practice. Instead, with the
upon his entire environment (gridding the line functioning as guide, he brought forth that
streets of his cities, for example). which was within him. Klee's iconic self-por¬
The Surrealists believed that such order pre¬ traits—for example Absorption (1919; p. 149) or,
cluded the expression of man's inner mystery later, Actor's Mask (1924; p. 205)—represent
and natural instincts. It is here that Klee's space the artist with his eyes knitted shut, vision di¬
became such an important model for them. The rected inward rather than toward the environ¬
wash ground of 17, Astray overcomes the coor¬ ment. This visual conceit corroborates the ro¬
Fig. 20. Giorgio de Chirico. The Mystery and Melan¬ dinates of its rectangular support to invoke a mantic artist's traditional self-image as god or
choly of a Street, 1914. Oil on canvas, 3414 x 18/8 in. space that welcomes inexplicable phenomena. prophet. At the same time, however, it carries us
(87 x 71.4 cm). Private collection
The fluid space of Klee's pictures mirrors the directly to Paris in 1922—to the apartments in
space of "the mind's eye," which images to¬ which the friends of Andre Breton and Robert
gether all our perceptions, fantasies, calcula¬ Desnos sought poetic inspiration in states of
tions, and desires. In other words, Klee has con¬ trance.
flated a physical space with a symbolic one. This
is made clear by the presence of the arrows that A more detailed discussion of Klee's graphic
dynamically charge the space of 17, Astray. The technique is in order here, for the concept of
arrow, an actual physical implement that goes "automatism" has long been clouded by vague
from here to there, has been lifted onto the overuse. Breton qualified Klee's art as "partial
plane of idea. Hence, as Klee explained in his automatism,"51 and surely Klee's drawings do
Bauhaus lectures, the arrow signifies move¬ not appear as frenzied scribblings. The auto¬
ment, or more abstractly, the will to such move¬ matic nature of Klee's drawing stems from a
ment.46 This simple fact underlies the possibility traditional conception of drawing as that art
of road signs. which is most inherently abstract. As Klee and
It seems that the arrows in 17, Astray doubly countless others had stressed, there are no
assume that very function in the context of the straight lines in nature; all graphic rendering is in
magazine page they grace. The bold black ar¬ fact invented expression, whether or not a
rows structure the field of Klee's own composi¬ drawing ultimately resembles something in our
tion. But they also propel the reader to go on, to world.
turn the page, and to find, in fact, a second Klee explained his personal concept of ab¬
rejoinder to Naville's diatribe. Page 28 illustrates straction in a small fable that opens his "Creative
de Chirico's The Mystery and Melancholy of a Credo." It "talks" the reader through a drawing,
Street (1914; fig. 20), whose veristic dream im¬ using the metaphor of a journey to show how
agery offered a different avenue toward a truly lived experience might be abstracted into a
Surrealist painting. Ultimately, it seems that the graphic record:
argument presented by these pictures tri¬
The first act of movement (line) takes us far beyond the
umphed over that of the text. The next issue of dead point. After a short while we stop to get our
La Revolution Surrealiste, the fourth, has as its breath (interrupted line or, if we stop several times, an
editor Andre Breton. Its pages are replete with articulated line). And now a glance back to see how far
illustrations and contain the first of Breton's arti¬ we have come (countermovement). We consider the
road in this direction and in that (bundles of lines). A
cles on "Surrealism and Painting."
river is in the way, we use a boat (wavy motion).^

For didactic impact, Klee detailed a too-literal

Graphic work as the expressive movement of the hand
holding the recording pencil—which is essentially translation of experience into sign. But he also
how I practice it—is so fundamentally different from included in his example the fact that one has
dealing with tone and color that one can use this memories and impressions after a trip. These,
technique quite well in the dark, even in the blackest much vaguer, roll together with those of our
night.47 —Paul Klee
more distant past, and we record: "All sorts of 23
As we have seen, Klee's fanciful imagery beck¬ lines. Spots. Dots. Smooth surfaces. Dotted sur¬
oned warmly to the Andre Breton who knew faces, shaded surfaces. Wavy movement Con¬
that "there are fairy tales to be written for stricted, articulated movement."53 From this we
adults.''48 But it is Klee's method that was to play can understand Klee's ability to draw "in the
a far more important role in the development blackest night," as his pen operated similarly to a
of Surrealist painting. In 1924, Breton defined seismograph that records the earth's tremors.
Surrealism as "psychic automatism," the mate¬ Drawings that document this emergence of
rial expression of "the actual functioning of graphic form from the workings of man's
thought."49 Its stated goal was the direct trans¬ mind— Adventure between Kurl and Kamen
(1925; p. 206), for example—comprise some of By this time, Miro and Masson had already
Klee's most wonderful images. But all of his found their way to a Surrealist idiom. Their own Paul Klee

drawings share certain qualities that hint at their work would appear alongside Klee's in the first
Sur la pente fatale, le voyageur profile
direct and unmediated formation. Most promi¬ exhibition of Surrealist painting, which opened De la faveur du jour, verglas et sans cailloux,
nent, perhaps, is the prevalence of connective at the Galerie Pierre on the day Klee's show Et les yeux bleus d amour, decouvre sa saison

lines between different figures and objects, as if closed. Qui porte a tous les doigts de grands astres en bague.

joined by strings of the puppets they so often Klee's importance to Miro and Masson is not
Sur la plage la mer a laisse ses oreilles
depict. We read this as if the pen could not have evident in immediate comparison, for both art¬
Et le sable creuse la place d un beau crime.
been put down, the thought broken. In other ists had already undergone the formative period Le supplice est plus dur aux bourreaux qu’aux victimes,
drawings, the line seems never to articulate par¬ in which an artist's work truly looks like that from Les couteaux sont des signes et les balles des larmes.

ticular beings or things, and yet somehow it which he learns. As young painters working in a
yield's recognizable scenes. In works such as Cubist mode, both had been in search of an
On the fatal slope, the traveler profits
Arab City (1922; p. 165), fantasy towns ma¬ idiom more amenable to poetic and intuitive From the day s good will, sleet and no pebbles.
terialize within networks of busy line; the expression. Klee's work became important And his eyes blue with love, he discovers his season

spontaneous emergence of individual buildings when they were ready not to copy but to invent Which wears on each finger big stars set on rings.

and roads mocks all notion of modern urban truly individual voices. Klee revealed to them the
The sea has left its ears on the beach
planning. possibility of a line that conjured rather than
And the sand has marked the place of a beautiful crime.
Klees sense that drawing transcribes our in¬ described, that traveled through space as the The torture is harder on tormentors than on victims,
ner vision was of no great novelty. Although for trace of images in our minds rather than of Knives are signs, and bullets, tears.

centuries the teaching of the Academy had tried objects in our physical world. The words of Henri —Paul Eluard
to level the very private nature of drawing, it was Michaux, who put to work his discovery of Klee
something that artists themselves never had slightly later, most beautifully express Klee's ap¬
ceased to acknowledge. Klee referred to more peal to the young Parisians: "On n'avait jusque-
than his particular grounding in graphic art la jamais laisse rever une ligne"—"never before
when he described his line as his "most personal had a line been allowed to dream."60
possession."54 Indeed, outside the realm of fine A look at the early Surrealist work of Miro and
art, vast bodies of theory sought to dissect the Masson suggests how such a line became useful
disclosures believed to issue from spontane¬ to their individual aims. Masson's automatist
ous graphic expression. The drawings of self- drawings differ immediately from those of Klee
described mediums were analyzed for all they in the obvious speed with which they were ex¬
might yield from the realm of the beyond. The ecuted.61 For Masson, rapidity guarded against
art of the mentally ill, which Klee had admired as the intervention of reason, the temptation to
early as 1912, formed a fundamental diagnostic exercise the eye of the trained artist. Elis final
tool for the first psychiatrists.55 addition of descriptive details suggested by the
Breton was extremely well-versed in a psychi¬ lines and his bestowal of a title lifts the auto¬
atric literature that devoted abundant attention matism into poetry: in Furious Suns (1925; fig.
to the graphic invention of the insane.56 It was 22), eyes, breasts, teeth, and orifices whirl to¬
this that offered him the richest source for an gether in nebular passion. Masson's lines appear
artistic antitradition. In a romantic association of charged with energies from the darkest depths
genius and madness, Breton saw the spon¬ of man's unconscious. In contrast, Klee's work
taneous writing and drawing of the insane as maintains a commitment to represent the bal¬
the quintessence of genuine creative activity. ance between the wild and tame; if he depicts
While the psychiatric background provided him the barbarians, the Greeks are there too.
, 'SCiCiLi Fi/KiE!/ X*
with a model, however, it did not indicate how Miro's lyrical and often humorous line bears
automatism might be attained without the li¬ more immediate affinity to that of Klee. The
cense given by a diagnosis of insanity. Breton left painting Le Renversement (1924; fig. 23) dem¬
to his painter colleagues the practical solution of onstrates the diagrammatic line that navigates a
that problem. space in which modeling has become irrelevant.
As in 77, Astray (fig. 19), laws of gravity do not
It is common art-historical hyperbole to describe apply to this material space; nor do those which
as "revelation" the impact of one artists work separate resemblance from sign. The arcs of the
upon another. In the case of both Andre Masson mustache on the running man are weightier
and Joan Miro, the hyperbole, if that it be, rests than those of his body, while the lines that de¬
with the artists themselves.57 Each has declared scribe the mountains simultaneously sen/e to
Klee's work a decisive catalyst to his break¬ diagram the man's motion. This abstract line
through to a Surrealist painting. A copy of enabled Miro, like Klee, to sever the boundary
Wilhelm Hausenstein's monograph on Klee pro¬ between verbal and visual signification. The
vided Masson's introduction to Klee's work in weightless lines that write the words API! and
1922, and he shared it with Miro, whose studio HOO! occupy the same realm as those that de¬
adjoined his own.58 The two artists would have scribe the peasant or his horse. As is made ex¬
been able to find actual works by Klee in the plicit by Klee in the Vocal Fabric of the Singer
collections of Aragon, Breton, and Paul Eluard. It Rosa Silber(1922; p. 173), letters permitan aural
was not until October 1925, however, that they component to the viewing of the picture, fur¬
would see a full-scale exhibition of Klee's work. ther collapsing together the experience of paint¬
That occasion, at the Galerie Vavin-Raspail, ing and poetry.62
Paris, seems to have been a true insider's affair. In all these pictures, it is the drawing that
Aragon, who had first signaled Klee in Li¬ bears the heaviest burden of meaning and first
terature, wrote the catalog's introduction, and exacts the empathy of the viewer. Fully de¬
Eluard contributed an homage-poem (fig. 21).59 veloped paintings, both for Klee and for the
Fig. 21. Paul Eluard (1895-1952). "Paul Klee," 1925. Surrealist "automatists," depended on the in¬
First published in catalog of 39 aquarelles de Paul Klee, vention of a color technique that would host
Galerie Vavin-Raspail, Paris, 1925
and enhance an independent graphic poetry.

Fig. 22. Andre Masson (born 1896). Furious Suns, Such a technique did not need to involve a truly
1925. Pen and ink, 165/s x 12/2 in. (40.6 x 31.7 cm). automatic application of color. Rather, it simply
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase Fund demanded a mobile field compatible with a dy¬
namic line and the pictorialization of the process
Fig. 23. Joan Miro (1893-1983). Le Renversement,
of time that governed "automatic" creation.
1924. Oil, pencil, charcoal, and tempera on canvas
board, 36/2 x 28% in. (92.4 x 72.8 cm). Yale Univer¬ The temporal process of creation is empha¬
sity Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, Gift of the sized even in those paintings by Klee that are
Societe Anonyme most systematic and nonobjective in appear¬
ance, the compositions of colored stripes or col¬
ored squares. As these surfaces generate a
warm vibrant light that builds from a cool dark
ground, they take as their subject their own
evolution. The title Eros (1923; p. 191) implies
this in the general sense of the creative power of
love and in its more specific reference to the
Greek creation myth in which Eros is born of
Night and Chaos.
The oil transfer drawings that Klee made at
Fig. 24. Joan Miro. The Birth of the World, 1925. Oil on
the Weimar Bauhaus, for example Twittering
canvas, 983/4 x 78% in. (250.8 x 200 cm). The Mu¬
seum of Modern Art, New York; Acquired through an Machine (1922; p. 172), also invite the viewer to
anonymous fund, the Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Slifka and share the temporal process of their creation.
Armand G. Erpf Funds, and by gift of the artist This process comprised repeated layers of glaz¬
ing, each of which had to dry before the next
was applied. Ultimately, the subtle chromatic
gradations and their varying opacities lead the
eye to circulate through space in a manner ex¬
actly counter to the directed gaze encouraged
by the perspectival devices of naturalistic pic¬
torial space. The random spots and smudges
born of the initial transfer of the drawing rein¬
force the aura of decentralization. As a result,
the drawing seems to emerge from the sur¬
rounding space despite the fact that it actually
was applied beforehand.63
The pictorialization of genesis is shared by the
fields of Miro's much larger oil paintings, and in
The Birth of the World (1925; fig. 24), is con¬
firmed by the title.64 The erratic application of
sizing to the canvas caused the paint to take
irregularly to the surface and thus to vary the
behavior of reflected light. The glazes were
brushed, poured, spilled, and sprayed to be¬
come a rich atmosphere that would inspire the
cursive drawing and opaque symbols upon it.
Masson used sand to prompt and to symbolize
an evolutionary process of painting—and
Fig. 25. Andre Masson. Fish Drawn on the Sand, again, evolution itself. Works such as Fish Drawn
1926-27. Oil and sand, 39% x 28% in. (97.8 x 71.4 on the Sand (1926-27; fig. 25) were begun by
cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Hermann und Margrit Rupf
pouring sand onto a canvas that had been
Stiftung
spread with patterns of glue. Sand rivulets and
clusters that clung to the adhesive would then
catalyze graphic composition in paint (straight
from the tube), charcoal, or pencil. We are used
to remarking that an artist covers his tracks;
Masson designed these works in sand precisely
as tracks.
All these techniques share Klee's emphasis on
the two-stage process of composition, in which
the emergence of form precedes associative
elaborations. Max Ernst fulfilled the same aim
with his invention of frottage, which he defined
as a technique for "the intensification of the
irritability of the mind's faculties."66 The frottage
process consisted of rubbing black lead on a
sheet of paper that had been placed over a
textural surface such as wooden planks or
 Fig. 26. Max Ernst. The Fugitive, plate 30 from Histoire Naturelle, 1926. Collotype after frottage, printed in black,
10!4 x 163/4 in. (26 x 42.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of James Thrall Soby

leaves. These rubbings, Ernst explained, would ample, the same Tristan Tzara who invented the
stimulate the artist's imagination and provoke sliced-newspaper poem submitted his work to
his inner visions. The results appear in the prolonged and compulsive revisions. Privately,
lithographs of his Histoire Naturelle (fig. 26), the artists realized that matters were far less
published in 1926. simple in practice than in discourse. When Max
Ernst rooted his 1925 invention of frottage in Ernst first saw Klee's work at the Sturm gallery,
the memory of a childhood experience. He be¬ he had recognized its affinity to the art of a child.
gan his autobiography by telling of a night on But Ernst was careful to qualify this child as one
which he gazed at the fake mahogany panel at "who had looked at and studied well his Picasso,
the foot of his bed and saw in its patternings Delaunay, and Macke."70
human forms.66 Klee was equally careful to re¬
count in his own autobiography a strikingly sim¬ In 1925, the year of Klee's debut in Paris, the

ilar tale: Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau, where Fig. 27. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946). Cover de¬
Gropius's International Style buildings would sign for Padagogisches Skizzenbuch (Pedagogical
In the restaurant run by my uncle, the fattest man in Sketchbook) by Paul Klee (Munich, 1925)
embody a new era of objectivism. Although Klee
Switzerland, were tables topped with polished marble
slabs, whose surface displayed a maze of petrified remained untouched by the Bauhaus's increased
layers. In this labyrinth of lines one could pick out emphasis on mass production and communica¬
human grotesques and capture them with a pencil. I tion, his work did manifest a greater interest in
was fascinated with this pastime; my bent for the systematization and measurement. Rich linear
bizarre announced itself (9 years).67
studies culminated in such masterful paintings
In the two parables, Klee and Ernst associate as Variations (1927; p. 225). The rigorous geom¬
their own work with the intensity and authen¬ etry of the Constructivist aesthetic—seen in
ticity of the child's creativity. This stance was Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's cover design for Klee's
anchored firmly in the avant-garde tradition: Pedagogical Sketchbook (fig. 27)—found echo
Baudelaire had declared that "genius is no more in such works as Portrait of an Acrobat (1927;
than childhood recaptured at will."68 And yet the p. 228).
conjoint confessions of Klee and Ernst are most Yet the painter-poet who so appealed to the
important because they alert us to the exceed¬ Surrealists by no means disappeared. A greater
ingly conscious nature of an assumed naivete. pictorial clarity defined imagery even more mys¬
Each artist devoted the utmost care, over an terious than the often anecdotal work done at
extended period of time, to the construction of Weimar. This is perhaps most true of the pictures
his autobiography.69 The decision to reclaim the that consist of individual elements vividly ren¬
supposed spontaneity of the child or naive artist dered but floating separately in the pictorial
was no less a conscious construct. And, in the space. These may be representational forms
26 work of Klee and Ernst, a successful evocation of (fish, dice, flowers, moons, faces), geometrical
an untutored approach involved a process shapes (squares, cubes), or conventional signs
equally intentional and carefully cultivated. (arrows, exclamation points). Sometimes the
Similarly, the rhetoric of automatism adver¬ discrete elements coalesce into a recognizable
tised a rejection of professional expertise that scenario, as in Conjuring Trick (1927; p. 228).
masked what was in fact a highly complex inter¬ Often, however, their meanings meld together
action of calculation and inspiration. While the no more obviously than do the forms, and the
Surrealists kept silent about the element of rea¬ juxtapositions seem to operate only on the
son in Klee's work, it matched a similar, if lesser, loosest of logics. We might therefore be
distortion of their own actual practice. For ex¬ tempted to treat a work such as Around the Fish
 __ - ’* - —

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V.
-V ... ►-
*(M *1 T ’

Z^JZ+-+ <*<r +**-w*- *• f : ■

ZZ2Z«•.. •"■-• -r ’
•■'<L±- £:.t • V ■■ <"4 ”>■ «»

*•
r- ~-
f^4rh«- -i *C
K4

|JrtL -> ^ ^ -

Fig. 28. Paul Klee. Pastorale, 1927. Tempera on canvas Fig. 29. Henri Michaux (1899-1984). Alphabet, 1927.
mounted on wood, 27!4 x 205/s in. (69.3 x 52.4 cm). Ink on paper, 14'/s x lO'A in. (36 x 26 cm). Private
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Abby Aldrich collection
Rockefeller Fund and exchange

(1926; p. 217) as a rebus to be deciphered, and flowers. Similarly, the titles may or may not
to display the solution like a trophy. Scholars evoke concrete associations; ultimately, a Tree
certainly have done so. But this is to miss the Nursery (1929; p. 234) is not so different from a
point: the magic of a dream does not rest in its Pastorale (1927; fig. 28). What Klee's other work
analysis. implies, the script pictures explicitly state. They
Such insoluble fish share the tactics of Sur¬ take as their very subject the equivalence of
realism not only in their coy elusion of meaning. writing and drawing, of poem and picture.
Notwithstanding the absence of glue, their The basic sameness of "the pen that flows in
structural mechanics are those of collage, a sys¬ writing and the pencil that runs in drawing" is
tem at the heart of the Surrealist aesthetic. Col¬ fundamental to Breton's concept of automa¬
lage offered a rich alternative to a descriptive tism.72 Testimony to his theory is explicit in the
language that narrates a continuous sequence wide variety of invented scripts made under the
of time and space, as it disrupted the rela¬ aegis of Surrealism by artists ranging from Picas¬
tionship between objects and external reality. so to Henri Michaux (see Alphabet, 1927; fig.
Under the banner of Surrealism, this method of 29). Breton considered automatism the most
picture-making flourished in the latter half of reliable route for painters and poets to follow to
the twenties. In 1926 Max Ernst began to create the unconscious, and in "Artistic Genesis and
his wondrous collage novels, and Louis Aragon Perspective of Surrealism," he explained this
wrote in 1930 that in the last few years Picasso preference. He suggested that the fundamental
had undergone a veritable "crise de collages."71 reward of automatism—and automatism
The Surrealists especially appreciated the fact only—lay in its attainment of rhythmic unity
that the discontinuity of collage demanded the (Breton's italics). "I maintain that automatism in
Fig. 30. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Illustration for Bal¬
zac's Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu (Paris), 1931. Wood viewers active participation in the completion of writing and drawing is the only mode of expres¬
engraving by Aubert after drawing of 1924, 13 x 10 a picture. It is this principle that is so evident in sion which gives entire satisfaction to both eye
in. (33 x 25.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New Klee's work under discussion. His pictorial fields, and ear by achieving a rhythmic unity, just as
York, The Louis E. Stern Collection either a warmly worked black or a haze of pale recognizable in a drawing or in an automatic
hues, literalize a space that is left for the fantasy text as in a melody or a bird's nest."73
of the observer. The perceptual work of relating It is ironic that Andre Breton, who had
the segments of the composition parallels the claimed to detest music, and who had come to
job we must do in fabricating their contextual feel little better about the work of Klee, indi¬
connection. rectly becomes an astute commentator on the
The same invitation to read a painting offers obvious connection between the two.74 Of
itself in Klee's seemingly far different "script pic¬ course, it is precisely the element of rhythm that
tures." These paintings have their beginnings in motivates Klee's script pictures, far beyond their 27

Klee's earliest work, but first appear in their ma¬ superficial resemblance to a page of sheet music
ture form in 1924 with pictures such as Human or the suggestion provided by titles such as Pas¬
Script (p. 206) and Egypt Destroyed (p. 208). torale. The script pictures take on the ability of
They consist in various signs arranged in hori¬ music to produce meaning from its own struc¬
zontal bands or freely distributed on the page, tural elements, to construct pattern and sign by
usually incised in thin strokes of watercolor or oil means of repetition and interval, accent and
on a richly worked ground. The script may sim¬ rest.
ply be a series of designs such as crosses and Accordingly, rhythm provides a fundamental
stars, or it may take as its "letters" humans or alternative to mimetic representation. Picasso
 recognized this when he used his 1924 drawings them. The manifesto initiated Breton's cam¬
of rhythmic patterns of dots and lines to illus¬ paign for political engagement, and denounced
trate Balzac's Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu (1931; those to whom this did not appeal. Enemy lines
fig. 30). The masterpiece of the story's title was a were starkly etched. Yet the monograph on Klee
portrait which, after years in the making, had unites tributes by dissidents such as Philippe
developed into a foot peeking out from a web of Soupault and Roger Vitrac with pieces by those
tangled lines. Balzac's portrayal of the tragic lim¬ who remained loyal to Breton: Crevel, Eluard,
its of the artist's quest for resemblance finds and Tzara.
respectful sympathy in Picasso's unassuming lin¬ The Surrealists' words remain the most beau¬
ear inventions. tiful ever written on Klee. The Parisians made no
Klee's script pictures, more than any others, attempt to analyze his work; rather, they used it
assert that for the viewer as well as for the artist as a departure point for their own poetry. Their
the experience of a picture rests in "becoming" texts rhapsodized upon the mystery and inef-
rather than "being." In these works there is no fability of Klee's universe, a "star rather than a
message to decode, no tune to whistle. This fact planet."78 Not surprisingly, Will Grohmann felt
opens onto a further dimension of the script compelled to assure the readers of the magazine
pictures: man's delight in the unknowable. Our Cahiers d’Art that Klee was a man who stood
response to them is not unlike that which we "solidly on both legs" and who walked through
today accord an inscribed stone from Babylonia. life "with his eyes wide open."79
The fascination of the cuneiform characters can¬ Again and again, the Surrealists praised the
not be reconciled with the mundane fact that miniature quality of Klee's work. As poets, they
they provided nothing more than, say, a recipe deeply understood the economy of Klee's art
for bread. Here we exercise a vestigial faith in and the advantage that finite means can lend to
the power of signs independent of any other¬ an infinite vision. Crevel, in a monograph pub¬
wise useful purpose. The same urge underlies lished by Gallimard in 1930, interpreted small¬ • Cl Ol* CLOCKi IRN1TIM JCHLACt KOHMT CRINNf RUNG MIR NAH

MIINCR KINOHIIT FROM! TACI U(G(N AUSGfIRtITCT VOR HIR DA

man's unceasing attempts to "read" the stars. ness more specifically: he understood Klee's tiny
Miro both referred to and recreated this pastime works as a challenge to the might of bourgeois
in The Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to authority. As had La Revolution Surrealiste in
a Pair of Lovers {1941; fig. 31), one of his series of 1925, Crevel enlisted Klee in a denunciation of
Constellations.75 Max Ernst could have found no Western logic and materialism. In a poignant
better way to pay homage to the quest of a Surrealist version of the homily "the meek shall
favorite astronomer than to compose an entire inherit the earth," Crevel reminded his readers
book of make-believe script. The ciphers of Max- that "there will be fleas until Judgment Day,"
imiliana, or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy while already the museum was the only place to
(1964; fig. 32) also invite us to glean shape and find a sign of the gigantic Diplodocus dinosaur.80
meaning from the vast expanse of an unknown Whereas Klee had become an unwitting col¬
cosmos; like Klee's scripts, they engage our laborator in a variety of poetic visions, both Elu¬
readiness to explore a system that lies beyond ard and Tzara sought him out in Dessau for
reach. explicit collaborations. In April 1928, Eluard sent
Klee some of his poetry with the request that he
The secret of Klee's art must remain our secret for a illustrate a volume of his work. Klee responded
long time to come.76 with warm enthusiasm, but for reasons un¬
—Philippe Soupault
known nothing further came of this exchange.81
Our perception of Surrealism, as William Rubin In 1931 Tzara asked Klee for an engraving for his
has observed, greatly relies on the prejudices of poem L'Hommeapproximatif, and this proposal
Andre Breton, personal as much as aesthetic. was realized. Tzara provided the artist with pa¬
When Breton took over La Revolution Sur- per from Paris, and Klee responded with an
realiste, Klee's work never returned to its pages. engraving (fig. 33) based on the drawing Eye
It would appear that Breton had lost his early and Ear of 1929.82 The image presents a man's
taste for Klee; the essay "Surrealism and Paint¬ face (the bridge of his nose that of a stringed
ing" does not mention him at all. Yet Breton's instrument) beside a configuration that forms
indifference should not obscure the loyalty of an enormous ear. The center of the ear appears
other Parisian admirers. Forgetting that Klee as a third eye, and the surrounding mass seems
also enjoyed the devotion of a far different au¬ to materialize the man's mind. The image ac¬
dience in Dessau, the French poets continued to cords with an extraordinarily musical poem that
watch over his work as the guardians of a pre¬ forms an epic reflection on self and language: "I
cious treasure. think of the warmth spun by the word / around
The Surrealists' esteem found testimony in the this center the dream we call ourselves."83
monograph on Klee published by Cahiers d'Art Despite these individual projects, Klee's work,
28 in 1929, which joined a short text by Will as of 1929, was positioned in the Paris art world
Grohmann with a selection of homages by Sur¬ at a far remove from Breton's new Surrealism.
realist poets. This monograph stands as a tribute It found its place not in his La Surrealisme au
to the diplomatic skill of Christian Zervos in what Service de la Revolution but in Documents.
must have been delicate circumstances, for the This magazine was the brainchild of Georges
book appeared in December 1929, the same Bataille, whose disdain for Surrealism's politi¬
month in which Breton's Second Manifesto of cal pretentions earned him Breton's strongest
Surrealism appeared.77 By this time Breton's vitriol. Later emphasis on the dark side of
penchant for electing allies to his cause had Bataille's character and literature has obscured
yielded to a preference for excommunicating the fundamental humanism underlying the phi-
 . - -'i

—l)}j S V V'lftl* _____

Fig. 34. Paul Klee. Menu without Appetite (Menu ohne Appetit), 1934 / 170 (S10). Pencil on
paper, 8V4 x 12% in. (20.9 x 32.8 cm), irregular. Private collection, Canada

Fig. 35. Pablo Picasso. On the Beach, July 28, 1933. Water-
color, 15% x 195/8 in. (39 x 49.8 cm). Peris Galleries, New
York

Fig. 31. Joan Miro. The Beautiful Bird Revealing the losophy of his magazine.84 Its masthead read ties. What had been a rapid succession of collab¬
Unknown to a Pair of Lovers, 1941. Gouache and oil "Archeologie, Beaux-Arts, Ethnographie, Vari- orations and innovations throughout the cen¬
wash, 18 x 15 in. (54.7 x 38.1 cm). The Museum of
etes," and it was dedicated to exploring the tury reached an impasse between 1930 and
Modern Art, New York, Acquired through the Lillie R
Bliss Bequest "obscure intelligence of things" that united non- 1935. This period has fallen between the cracks
Western, popular, and fine art.85 One issue, for of an art history structured to recount a linear
Fig. 32. Max Ernst. Leaf 10 from Maximiliana, 1964. example, juxtaposed two works by Klee with an series of successes: the new styles and programs
Etching with aquatint in two colors, 161/i6 x 12 in.
Irish illuminated manuscript and a Russian that arose as alternatives to the modernist idiom
(40.6 x 30.4 cm). The New York Public Library,
Spencer Collection medal.86 Documents' attempt to make sense of in the thirties have often been described, but
the universe of form marked an important de¬ less has been said of those artists who had com¬
Fig. 33. Paul Klee. L'Homme approximatif, 1931. Etch¬ parture from the evolutionary and colonialist mitted decades to the development of a mod¬
ing printed in black, 7 x 51/2 in. (17.8 x 13.9 cm). The
bias that long had colored discussions of con¬ ernist art. The political crises of the decade
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase Fund
temporary art's relation to the primitive. In so threw into question the position of those who
doing, it served as an extraordinary herald to the had staked their convictions and their incomes
avant-garde agenda of the thirties, and in par¬ on an art autonomous to world events. Breton
ticular, to the place that Klee's art would occupy faced the problem in his explicit alliance of Sur¬ 29
within it. realism and Communism, and he forced his as¬
sociates to choose sides for or against. But for
the majority of the avant-garde, the relationship

Klee in the Thirties between art and society could not be so baldly
resolved. Their works of the decade chore¬
I am my style.87
ograph a strange ballet of confrontation and
—Paul Klee, 1902
withdrawal.
The splintering of the Surrealist group forecast a The rise of Nazism and the approach of war
general rupture in the avant-garde of the thir¬ scattered the members of the avant-garde; in so
 doing it united them in a communal exile, psy¬ painting itself.
chological if not physical. For Klee, these were In 1930 Cahiers d'Art ushered in the decade
years of particular hardship. By 1933 the Nazi with five installments of Hans Muhlestein's essay
offensives against "degenerate" artists sent Klee "Des Origines de I'art et de la culture."89 In a
and his wife to his native city of Bern, Switzer¬ prefatory editorial, Christian Zervos stressed the
land. This was no simple haven for Klee. The need to understand prehistoric art if we are to
avant-garde had interpreted Rimbaud's epi¬ understand our own. In a strained but oddly
gram—"Je est un autre"—as a directive. Artistic moving manner, he asked the reader's indul¬
realization required a self-imposed exile from gence of material neither light nor entertaining.
one's given identity: it meant going to a dif¬ The Cahiers continued to devote a great deal of
ferent metropolis to live, speaking a new lan¬ space to primitive art, joined in 1933 by
guage, and usually adopting another name. For Minotaure. Their inquiries attained a level of
an avant-garde artist aged fifty-five, a return serious interrogation far beyond earlier roman¬
"home" must be read as a very particular es¬ tic enthusiasms. Nets were cast across a vast
trangement. body of cultures, all as a means to explore the
Klee's unsurety during these years is apparent essence of creation.
in his art. In 1932 he had produced among the Klee did not join publicly in this communal
most magnificent works of his life. They ac¬ self-examination. He had spent a lifetime shar¬
knowledge the inspiration of Seurat, an artist ing as much as he would in his writings and
whose work only recently had been brought to classroom lectures. Privately, however, he too
public prominence, and one very close to Klee in burrowed down into the sources of his own art.
his wedding of the poetic and theoretical. A title We remember that World War I had prompted
such as Ad Parnassum (1932; p. 255) indicates many calls for a new language to replace a
that Klee recognized the heights he had at¬ corrupted one. Klee had devoted the interven¬
tained. But such work was abruptly followed in ing years to pictorial investigations that in 1937
1933 by scratchy drawings—of slaves, emi¬ would enable the formation of a systematic vo¬
grants, and murders (p. 262)—that show mod¬ cabulary; far beyond romantic or random in¬
ernism gone haywire. Klee's continued uncer¬ vention, it would emerge from the fundamental
tainty is reflected in the drawing Menu without principles of picture-making. At this point one
Appetite (1934; fig. 34), which, like Picasso's On cannot trace in Klee's work direct connections to
the Beach (1933; fig. 35), is a clear glance in the any particular form of primitive art. The history
direction of Salvador Dali. This was a very rare into which Klee now would reach was his own;
move for Klee, who did not share Picasso's sense the L/rforms he would retrieve were those of his Fig. 36. Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). Hands Hold¬
of license to dip freely into the group imagina¬ imagination. ing the Void (The Invisible Object), 1934. Plaster (origi¬
The path he chose is prefigured in Picture nal cast), 61 Vt in. (155.6 cm) high. Yale University Art
tion. Klee's painting was sporadic and unrelia¬
Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
ble—marvelous pictures followed by failures. In Album (p. 271), an early picture of 1937 that
1936 he made only twenty-five. seems literally to refer to cave paintings. Earth-
But in this Klee stood in fine company. We find tone gouaches on unprimed canvas make marks
in the midthirties a collective stopping short on that seem scratched on rough stone; the graffiti
the part of the elder avant-garde. Artists include a scaly lizard and a moon-headed
stopped working, switched mediums, or radi¬ woman. If this seems a retreat from modernism,
cally altered their stylistic approach—probably we need only remember that in this very year,
each at some point. In early 1935 Picasso ceased The Museum of Modern Art staged an exhibi¬
painting altogether for twenty months. Matisse, tion titled Prehistoric Rock Pictures. It displayed
with great success, reinvested himself in his facsimiles of the carvings found by anthro¬
drawing; Ernst turned to sculpture. In 1937, a pologist Leo Froebenius, who wrote the catalog
troubled Miro enrolled in the life-drawing class essay. His concerns were not simply formal: "For
at an art school in Paris. Sometimes work is it has come to pass that we modern Europeans,
nothing more than an alternative to paralysis. In concentrating on the newspaper and on that
1934 Giacometti made what would be his last which happens from one day to the next, have
major sculpture for twelve years: Hands Holding lost the ability to think in large dimensions. We
the Void (fig. 36) may stand as a symbol for an need a change of Lebensgefuhl, of our feeling
avant-garde that had lost its confidence. for life."90
In his famous lecture at Jena in 1924, Klee had Picture Album's overt nod toward cave paint¬
apologized for disobeying the command, ing was unique in Klee's work. He thereafter
"Don't talk, painter, paint!" But what happens evolved a grammar that would determine the
when one cannot paint? Or feels the need for character of his art for the rest of his life. The first
reevaluation? In 1935, the normally cagey Picas¬ works of 1937 place basic graphic signs on the
so authorized the publication of remarks on his fields of colored squares that had, in the early
30 painting that Zervos had recorded on a visit. In twenties, provided a background for works such
the same year Matisse wrote "On Modernism as Ventriloquist: Caller in the Moor (1923;
and Tradition," his first major statement since p. 186). His simple signs are confined to rudi¬
1908. Max Ernst published "Beyond Painting" in mentary Y,T, X, and L shapes and to small arcs
1936.88 While these painters were examining and loops. The paintings' titles may simply pro¬
their own origins, the avant-garde was doing so vide the label of "signs," or they may confer an
collectively. In the place of reporting on a new associative meaning, as in Garden in the Orient
wave of styles—with the exception of the Sur¬ (1937; p. 272). The signs become livelier and
realist investigations of the object—the maga¬ more varied in a work such as Legend of the Nile
zines of the day reached back to the roots of (1937; p. 278), its Egyptian motif confirming the
link to hieroglyphic expression. This painting, in In a deeper sense than ever before, the lan¬
which we can recognize underwater life and guage of Klee's late work had become its own
boats on the river surface, introduces Klee's or¬ subject. His paintings of the thirties, unlike those
ganization of his expanded vocabulary of signs of many of his peers, largely remained within the
into more descriptive landscape and figural repertory of themes that had served him for a
compositions. lifetime.91 In contrast, Max Ernst invented a
Some of Klee's signs are ancient figures: the wholly new subject matter for himself when he
sun, moon, heart, wheel, flag. Others are the turned his skill to veristic portrayals of petrified
basic geometric forms that he must have drawn civilizations such as The Entire City (1935-36;
thousands of times on Bauhaus blackboards. fig. 38). There was a general resurgence of
Now they appear in their own right. We are mythological themes, and Picasso managed to
reminded of the paper cutouts Matisse made wrestle the myth of the Minotaur into a sin¬
late in his life. Works such as Composition, Black gularly personal legend that defined an era as it
and Red (1947; fig. 37) show that he, too, served his own psychic needs.92 The mark of
reached to the base of his art for the vocabulary trauma upon Klee's imagery was a more subtle
that had become his own. He no longer needed one. While the mood of many of his works
explicitly to detail nudes in interiors or flowers in remained characteristically benign, Klee's
vases; big leafy arabesques and the waves of a oeuvre catalogue now would record a different
woman's back sufficed. vision as well. Children are frequently grieving or
Klee's signs are as flexible in meaning as they lost; nature may seem more demonic than be¬
are in size or shape: a comb form c i i ) can neficent; ships can be found rusting in harbor.
read as a mouth, a hand, a flower, or simply as a
rhythmic element. As was always true of Klee's The notion of a monumental painting by Klee
graphic work, the process is synthetic rather may seem a contradiction in terms. Yet the
than analytical: the signs generate the associa¬ grand scale of his last works disproves this. In
tions, rather than the reverse. The linear forms absolute dimensions, they tend to be much
constitute an alphabet from which Klee could larger than ever before; a number of paintings
assemble his pictures. As with language, a finite from 1938 surpass five feet in length. But the
number of elements can produce an infinite scale of these works is felt more in relation to
number of images. Ultimately, the titles that in¬ their impact on the surrounding environment. If
dicate landscape or figural motifs hardly matter; a painting by Rothko can be intimate in its enor¬
the images are generalized, and the distance mity, these works are monumental in their still-
from a physiognomy to a forest is very slight. small size.
A drawing such as Growth Is Stirring (1938; This has a great deal to do with the dramatic
p. 286) makes clear why the script pictures of change in Klee's use of mediums. He retained his
the twenties could equally "write" human fig¬ longtime preference for homemade combina¬
ures, flowers, or abstract designs. It reduces the tions of varieties of oil and tempera, watercolor
genesis of form to an essential spirit equally and gesso. But now these mixtures aim toward
applicable to animals, plants, or ideas. an effect of intensity rather than subtlety. Klee

Fig. 37. Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Composition, Black and Red, 1947. Paper cutout, 15 W x 20 in (38 1 x
50.8 cm). The Wellesley College Museum, Wellesley, Massachusetts
 Fig. 38. Max Ernst. The Entire City, 1935-36. Oil on canvas, 233A x 32 in. (60 x
81 cm). Kunsthaus Zurich

also began to work with mediums he had sel¬ When he did paint on artist's paper, he often wet
dom used before. In 1937 he turned to pastel it first so that the paint would cause it to ripple
crayon, which allowed firm but still soft drawing and acquire an assertive substance of its own.
upon the colored squares. Soon he invented a We find the same effect at work in Miro's con¬
thick paint of pigment and paste, which he temporary turn to masonite, on which he
could apply firmly but freely with a brush, spat¬ painted in tar and casein (see Painting on Ma¬
ula, or palette knife. The large scale of the marks sonite, fig. 39). The raw nature of all these sup¬
relative to the pictorial field also boldens their ports retains a pronounced resistance to im¬
impression. There seems to be no space left to print. Like walls of caves or of subways, they
separate the viewer from the image; we are bespeak an existence independent of the advent
pitched into immediate confrontation with fig¬ of the artist's mark. Accordingly, the images
ures as well as landscapes. must assume a stronger, and even necessary,
The thickness of Klee's marks permits his sign presence. They project the same immanent
language its quality of anonymity and allows a power of the graffiti that Brassai photographed
preference for remove that we can trace back at (fig. 40) in Paris alleyways and published in
least to the distancing process involved in the oil Minotaure in 1933. BrassaTs words can be used
transfer drawings. The grounds on which Klee to explain the consequence of Klee's late work.
painted reinforce this effect as much as they do In distinguishing the graffiti from the work of a
the rudimentary nature of his marks. Heavy bur¬ child—made on walls rather than paper, anony¬
lap was substituted for expensive canvas, brown mous rather than supervised—Brassai recog¬
wrapping for fine paper. Klee also began fre¬ nized that they returned "the word 'charming'
quently to paint on newspaper glued on jute. to its original sense."93

32

Fig. 39. Joan Miro. Painting on Masonite, 1936. Oil, casein, tar, and sand on masonite, 303A Fig. 40. Brassai (1899-1984). Graffiti, 1933. Photo¬
x 4214 in. (78.1 x 107.9 cm). Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York graph. Published in Minotaure (Paris), no. 3/4 (De¬
cember 1933), p. 6
Fig. 41. Max Ernst, Saint-Martin d'Ardeche, 1939

This brings us back to the question that stand as a metaphor for the wall on which a
weighed so heavily in the thirties. Man yearned mural is normally painted. One can think of the
for art to regain its lost efficacy, a power that had news as the face of our civilization and of jour¬
been equally expressed by the penitent who nalists as the architects of our history. The ar¬
knelt in a chapel of the Virgin and by the hunter chaeologists of modern society, we might say,
who initiated his chase by drawing in mud the will read not its walls but its newspapers. At easy
scene of a kill. In this sense we return to the idea reach, Klee had found a facade on which to
of the mural, for it is not for nothing that we still leave his mark in his time.
speak of "writing on the wall." That legacy Yet the mural has a double-sided nature. On
makes the mural a field for social interference, the one hand it can function as the collective
and even allows it the voice of a collective truth voice of the people in a public forum. But it has
greater than that apparent to us. The Mexican an equal place in the private sphere, where it
muralists of the thirties knew this, as did Picasso serves to create a personal universe for the in¬
when for the 1937 World's Fair he painted Guer¬ habitant of the walls it covers. Goya—whose
nica in a language to be understood by the work assumed fresh relevance in the thirties—
many. had finished his life in a panoramic nightmare of
For Klee, such overtly propagandistic work Black Paintings he frescoed on the walls of his
was out of the question. Klee could no more country farmhouse. Max Ernst (fig. 41), in refuge
surrender his private idiom than he could situate during 1938-39 in the south of France, re¬
his creations in a nonart setting. But he did refer bounded from his recent paintings of ruin by 33

his own still self-contained work to an art that is sculpting a fantastic menagerie to keep him
engaged by its society. In the twenties his works company. Exiled in Lysaker, Norway, Kurt Schwit¬
on grounds of plaster had sought for themselves ters in 1937 began to wall off the world in a
the authority of ancient documents or wall Merzbau camouflaged under a hillside.
paintings. In the late thirties, the works on news¬ Klee had never had any impulse toward large-
paper used this effect for more contemporary scale decoration. Yet in his final years he found
reference. Certainly, the newspaper provided an equivalent solution to the structuring of his
the sort of rough and varied surface that Klee environment. This is represented in the veritable
was seeking for a pictorial base. But it also could outpouring of drawings he produced from 1937
until May 1940: a total of 1,583. Indeed, we can
imagine the drawings filling his studio, as "sheet
after sheet fell to the floor" in what by 1937 Lily
Klee's letters described as a continuous flow.94
They defined not only the artists space but his
remaining time: they became Klee's clock as he
methodically numbered, titled, matted, and re¬
corded in his catalog the mounting production.
Done in pencil, grease crayon, and brushed
watercolor, these drawings are genuine prod¬
ucts of the automatism Breton described in
1924. And it is here that the confounding of
drawing and writing is total. Many, in fact, were
made on lined writing paper. With a few quick
strokes, all descriptive detail is condensed into
terse sign. Musicians are one with their instru¬
ments, ships their own seas.
To see a few of these drawings in isolation is to
see fragments from a lengthy frieze. Their ap¬
parent simplicity belies the enigma of the reso¬
lutely cryptic ideographs. They attain a real
sense only when we see the entire proceeding,
the rhythm of Klee's thought acquiring a certain Fig. 42. Paul Klee. Outbreak of Fear III (Angstausbruch
III), 1939 / 124 (M 4). Watercolor over egg ground on
communicative power beyond straightforward
paper, mounted on cardboard, 25 x 187/s in. (63.5 x
appearance. Themes form, sometimes in clus¬ 48.1 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
ters, sometimes sprinkled over a long period.
Often these can be traced to longstanding pre¬
occupations. The many figures of Eidolas95 and
Angels (pp. 306, 320), en route from their
earthly to celestial stations, literalize Klee's early
speculations on man's condition as a creature
"half-winged, half imprisoned.''96 Cumulatively,
the drawings serve as a final chapter to the diary
Klee had abandoned in 1918, forming for the
artist what Glaesemer has described as "an un¬
interrupted dialogue with himself."97
Within the broad gamut of these drawings,
one device stands out as particularly prevalent:
the fragmentation of the figure into globular
sections that float on the page with no relation
to gravity or to each other. This scrambled struc¬
ture resounds through scores of drawings, not
only of people but of landscapes and buildings.
The importance of this motif to Klee is reflected
in Outbreak of Fear III (1939; fig. 42). Although
Klee rarely elaborated his late drawings into col¬
ored works, this watercolor is prepared by two
(Outbreak of Fear, p. 307). Its title confirms the
Fig. 43. Joan Miro. Head of a Man, 1937. Gouache and
mood implied by the pictorial structure. The im¬
India ink on black paper, 255/s x 193/4 in. (63.5 x 50.1
age reads as one of Klee's puppets come apart, cm). Collection Richard S. Zeisler, New York
its pieces flattened onto the page like the cut¬
outs of a sewing pattern. Some of its parts are
discernible bits of anatomy, others merely amor¬
phous fragments. The pale watercolor over an
egg ground works to deny the possibility of any
real substance within the body's forms.
The picture evinces a tender pathos, rather
than a shrill rage, and yet it bears a proximity to
the Weeping Women who form a postscript to
Guernica or the tableaux sauvages of Miro. The
Miro Head of a Man (1937; fig. 43) shares many
of the devices by which Klee evoked an Out¬
break of Fear. In both works, the figure's perim¬
eters completely fill the pictorial field, rendering
it a place of claustrophobic entrapment. Miro's
head also appears severed from its body, reach¬
Fig. 44. Paul Klee. Reparatur, 1938 / 347 (Z 17). Pencil
ing up into the painting on a long stick of a neck. on letter paper, mounted on cardboard, 13A x 113/4 in.
An agglomeration of sickly fluids and gases (20.9 x 29.8 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee
takes the place of flesh and bone. Stiftung
 ■ 1 ~!c L . '} VK* t

Fig. 45. Paul Klee. Wandering Artist: A Poster (Wander-Artist, ein Plakat), 1940/273
(L 13). Colored paste on paper, mounted on cardboard, 12'/sx 113/s in. (31 x 29 cm).
Private collection, Switzerland

Kleeand Miro each generalized their victim as cannot be separated from the man himself.
an androgynous being ("head of a man" cannot Klee's eyes glance from the landscapes, and his
account for the vagina dentata mouth on Miro's initials Pand K float in the fields of signs. The
figure). Both works support readings far beyond artist's name homonymically situates itself
personal cries of pain or terror. Yet the motif is within the many images in which a key (c/e) form
also one of real immediacy, as Klee acknowl¬ defines a figure or a space. As a young man, Klee
edged in a drawing entitled Reparatur (1938; again and again had portrayed himself at work
fig. 44). Here the artist, pen in hand and sporting in his room. Now there remain only the trap¬
Klee's black pipe, surveys his own scattered self pings of this personal space: the carpet, the
in a pond of disjointed limbs and faces. The lofty keyhole, the cupboard. Ultimately the artist has
title ironically punctuates the artist's situation. merged with his furniture and has become his
own hiding place (fig. 45).98 But Klee's final in¬
troversion, too, would be turned outward. As
Jorge Luis Borges observed that when an author his identity folded into that of his art, it also
dies, he becomes books. Klee was soon to be¬ folded into the ongoing history of the avant-
come pictures; and like one of his Eidola or garde. For these late works provided a legacy
Angel figures—caught midway between life with which that avant-garde was to renew itself
and death—he by the end was metamorphos¬ after Klee was gone, in an abstract language
ing into his works. The language of the late work that merged symbol and self.
 drawings "because they lack creative self-suffi¬ Once Emerged from the Gray of Night. . .: see

Notes ciency." See Diaries, p. 256, no. 895 (191 1).

15. Arp had participated in the second Blaue Reiter
exhibition in February 1912. Klee and he met that
Dans une ville pleine de mystere. . .and Qui est le
grandmalade?, reproduced in Uwe M. Schneede,
Max Ernst (Stuttgart: Gerd Hatje, 1972), p. 69.
summer through the activity of the Swiss art asso¬ 34. Rene Crevel, in Will Grohmann, Paul Klee (Paris:
ciation Der moderne Bund', Arp subsequently Cahiers d'Art, 1929), p. xxiv. Excerpt from Crevel's
The author wishes to extend warmest thanks to
helped to try to find a publisher for Klee's Candide "Merci, Paul Klee!" in Le Centaure (Brussels), De¬
Carolyn Lanchner and Jurgen Glaesemer.
drawings. cember 1928: "Alors, ce jour-la . . . j'ai fait con-
16. Paul Klee, "Ways of Nature Study" (1923), in The naissance avec des animaux d'ame, oiseaux d'in¬
Thinking Eye: The Notebooks of Paul Klee, ed. telligence, poissons de coeur, plantes de songe."
1. Guillaume Apollinaire, "La Victoire," in Calli-
Jurg Spiller (New York and London: Wittenborn 35. Louis Aragon, "Le Dernier Ete," Litterature,
grammes (Paris: Gallimard, 1966), p. 18. First pub¬
and Lund-Humphries, 1961), p. 63. nouvelle serie no. 6 (November 1, 1922), p. 22:
lished 1917.
17. Ball, Flight Out of Time, p. 103. "C'est a Weimar que fleurit une plante qui ressem-
2. <Paul Klee, no. 1008 (1916) in The Diaries of Paul
ble a la dent de sorciere. On ne sait pas encore ici
’Klee, 1898-1918, ed. Felix Klee (Berkeley and Los 18. Ibid,, p. 104.
19. Jurgen Glaesemer explains that Klee developed que la jeunesse va preferer Paul Klee a ses devan-
Angeles: University of California Press, 1964),
this painting from an earlier drawing that he ciers."
p. 345.
turned sideways. See his Paul Klee: The Colored 36. The creation of the Bauhaus was an example of
3. Klee, Diaries, p. 259, no. 899 (1911). On Klee's
Works in the Kunstmuseum Bern, trans. Renate the gentle evolution of the Dada and Expressionist
development, see Charles Werner Haxthausen,
Franciscono (Bern: Kornfeld, 1979), pp. 32-33. climate into one of Constructivism. Walter Gro¬
Paul Klee: The Formative Years (New York:
20. Klee, Diaries, p. 315, no. 952 (1915). pius's founding vision was one of a unity of artists
Garland, 1981).
21. Precedents for such experiments were many. One and craftsmen in the project of building a new
4. "Second Exhibition of the Editors of the Blaue
well-known to Klee was the "Fisches Nacht- everyday environment. An extensive literature
Reiter," Galerie Hans Goltz, Munich, February
gesang," from the Galgenlieder( 1905) of the Ger¬ treats the development of this program and the
1912. The Almanac reproduced Klee's Stonecutter
man poet Christian Morgenstern. The poem is place of Klee's work within it. See in particular
(1910 / 74). See The Blaue Reiter Almanac, eds.
composed entirely of dashes and arcs arranged to Christian Geelhaar, Paul Klee and the Bauhaus
Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. English edition
form a scaly fish. (Bath, England: Adams and Dart, 1973) and Mar¬
ed. Klaus Lankheit (New York: Viking, 1974), p.
22. See Kandinsky on the letter as a "being with inner garet Plant, Paul Klee: Figures and Faces (London:
197. Klee reviewed both Blaue Reiter exhibitions
life," in "On the Question of Form," The Blaue Thames and Hudson, 1978). See also the general
as an arts correspondent for Die Alpen, a journal in
Reiter Almanac, p. 165. literature on the Bauhaus: Marcel Franciscono,
Bern. Texts are reprinted in Christian Geelhaar,
23. For example, see Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound, Walter Gropius and the Creation of the Bauhaus
Paul Klee: Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsatze
"The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for at Weimar (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
(Cologne: DuMont, 1976).
Poetry," The Little Review (New York), vol. 6, nos. 1971) and Hans Wingler, The Bauhaus (Cam¬
5. For the catalog of an exhibition honoring Kan¬
5-8 (September-December 1919). As was com¬ bridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1969).
dinsky's sixtieth birthday (Galerie Arnold, Dresden,
mon among Western scholars at the time, 37. Rene Crevel, Paul Klee (Paris: Gallimard, 1930).
1926), Klee wrote: "Par son developpement Kan¬
Fenollosa exaggerated the pictographic quality of Translation by Alan Brown in Gert Schiff, "Rene
dinsky etait mon aTne; j'aurais pu etre son eleve;
the Chinese characters. On Klee's cycle of water- Crevel as a Critic of Paul Klee," Arts Magazine
et, en un sens, je I'etais veritablement. II n'y avait
colors on the Chinese poems, see Glaesemer, pp. (New York), vol. 52, no. 1 (September 1977),
pas un mot de lui qui ne fut pour mon travail une
38-39. p. 136.
lumiere, un encouragement, une confirmation."
24. Klee, "Creative Credo" (1920), trans. Norbert 38. Andre Breton, "Manifesto of Surrealism," in Man¬
Reprinted in exhibition catalog Kandinsky et Klee,
Guterman, in The Inward Vision: Watercolors, ifestoes of Surrealism, trans. Richard Seaver and
Berggruen & Cie, Paris, 1959.
Drawings, Writings by Paul Klee, ed. Werner Helen R. Lane (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
6. In autumn 1912 Delaunay mailed to Klee his arti¬
Haftmann (New York: Abrams, 1958), p. 7. Press, 1972), p. 27.
cle "Sur la lumiere," which Klee translated for
25. Ibid. 39. La Peinture surrealiste, Galerie Pierre, Paris, No¬
publication in the journal Der Sturm (Berlin), vol. 3,
26. Klee, Diaries, p. 275, no. 916 (1913). This entry vember 14-25, 1925. The exhibition included
no. 144-45 (January 1913), pp. 255-56. For a
quotes Klee's remarks on a Futurist exhibition at two works by Klee; the catalog reproduced Ghost
detailed analysis of Klee's assimilation of Parisian
the Galerie Thannhauser, Munich, published in Chamber (1920/174).
painting, see Jim M. Jordan, Paul Klee and Cubism
Die Alpen (Bern), December 1912, pp. 239-40. 40. Breton, p. 14.
(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
27. Kurt Schwitters, "Logically Consistent Poetry" 41. Ibid., pp. 16-17.
1984).
(1924), reprinted in Richter, p. 148. 42. Theodore Lessing, "L'Europe et I'Asie," La Revolu¬
7. Walden included Klee in his historic Autumn Sa¬
lon, September-November 1913. He continued 28. Ibid., p. 149. tion Surrealiste (Paris), no. 3 (April 15, 1925), pp.
29. John Elderfield has observed that these whimsical 20-21. It is followed by Klee's Parsimonious
to show Klee's work at Galerie Der Sturm and to
drawings may reflect attention to Klee, whose Words of the Miser (present location unknown).
illustrate it in Sturm publications throughout the
works Schwitters would have known from Der 43. Leopold Zahn, Paul Klee: Leben, Werk, Geist
teens.
Sturm and the Hanover Kestner-Gesellschaft. See (Potsdam: Kiepenheuer, 1920).
8. Hans Richter, Dada Art and Anti-Art, trans. David
his Kurt Schwitters (New York: Thames and Hud¬ 44. The issue included, for example, collaboratively
Britt (New York: Abrams, 1965), p. 39.
son, 1985), p. 47. written protests addressed to the chief doctors of
9. As a producer at the Kammerspiele (intimate the¬
30. Dada Anthologie (Zurich), no. 4/5 (May 15,1919). insane asylums and to the administrators of Euro¬
aters) in Munich, Ball in 1914 had formulated a
plan for a collaborative Kunstlertheater that in¬ In the summer of 1919, Klee visited the Dadaists in pean universities.
Zurich, and saw Tzara, Arp, Eggeling, Richter, and 45. "Plus personne n'ignore qu'il n'y a pas de peinture
cluded Kandinsky and Klee. See Hugo Ball, Flight
Out of Time: A Dada Diary, ed. John Elderfield, Janco. His report to his wife suggests that their surrealiste," in Pierre Naville, "Beaux Arts," La Rev¬
trans. Ann Raimes (New York: Viking, 1974), pp. enthusiasm was infectious: "Would that we had olution Surrealiste (Paris), no. 3 (April 15,1925), p.
9-10. First published 1927. them in Munich!" Card to Lily Klee, June 22,1919, 27.
in Paul Klee: Briefe an die Familie 1893-1940, vol. 46. Section 4 of Klee's Pedagogical Sketchbook details
10. Klee, Diaries, p. 258, no. 897 (1909).
11. Klee, Diaries, p. 240, no. 865 (1909). Klee's illustra¬ 2: 1907-1940, ed. Felix Klee (Cologne: DuMont, the evolution from actual arrow to symbolic ar¬
1979), p. 954. row, and the significance of the latter in his phi¬
tions for Candide were published in 1920 by Kurt
31. Although originally organized for Karl Nieren- losophy of man's struggle to overcome his earthly
Wolff in Munich.
dorf's Gesellschaft der Kunste, the Ernst and limitations: "Revelation: that nothing that has a
12. Hugo Ball, Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), May 15,
Baargeld display was segregated from Nieren- start can have infinity. Consolation: a bit farther
1916.
13. "In seinem schonen Werk sahen wir den Wider- dorf's exhibition when shown at the Kolnischer than customary!—than possible? Be winged ar¬
schein all unserer Bemuhungen, die Seele des Kunstverein; a sign announced that the two rows, aiming at fulfillment and goal, even though
primitiven Menschen zu deuten, ins Unbewusste events were unrelated. The British authorities oc¬ you will tire without having reached the mark."
und in die triebhafte Schopfungskraft hinein- cupying Cologne ultimately confiscated the Bul¬ Paul Klee, Pedagogical Sketchbook, intro, and
zutauchen, die reinen und unmittelbaren Schaf- letin D poster and catalog and forbade the pro¬ trans. Sibyl Moholy-Nagy (London: Faber and
fensquellen des Kindes zu entdecken." Marcel jected tour. For this history and a reprint of the Faber, 1984), p. 54. First German edition 1925.
Janco, "Schopferische Dada," in Dada: Mono- catalog, see Von Dadamaxzum Grungurtel: Koln 47. Klee, Diaries, p. 307, no. 928 (1914).
graphie einer Bewegung, eds. Willy Verkauf, Mar¬ in den 20er Jahren (Cologne: Kolnischer Kunst¬ 48. Breton, "Manifesto of Surrealism," p. 16.
cel Janco, Hans Bolliger (Teufen: Arthur Niggli, verein, 1975). See also Lanchner's essay in this 49. Ibid., p. 26. The complete definition reads as fol¬
book, p. 86. lows: "SURREALISM, n. Psychic automatism in its
1965), p. 38.
14. In early 1911 Klee began an oeuvre catalogue in 32. Fordetailsof this visit, see Werner Spies, Max Ernst pure state, by which one proposes to express—
which he retroactively included works dating back Collagen: Inventar und Widerspruch (Cologne: verbally, by means of the written word, or in any
to 1883 and which he would maintain for the rest M. DuMont Schauberg, 1974), p. 35. other manner—the actual functioning of
of his life. It detailed titles, dates, and mediums, as 33. See also Glaesemer, pp. 145-46. In two paintings thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence of
well as prices and sales. While he included several of 1923-24, Ernst combines a Chiricoesque set¬ any control exercised by reason, exempt from any
works from his childhood, he omitted his school ting with the painting-poem technique of Klee's aesthetic or moral concern."
50. Ball, Flight Out of Time, p. 103. Modern Art (1924), trans. Paul Findlay (London: annee, no. 6-7 (1936), pp. 149- 84. Reprinted in
51. Andre Breton, "Artistic Genesis and Perspective of Faber and Faber, 1948). Ernst, Beyond Painting.
Surrealism," in Art of This Century, ed. Peggy 66. Ernst, Beyond Painting, p. 7. 89. Hans Muhlestein, "Des Origines de I'art et de la
Guggenheim (New York: Arno Press, 1968), p. 21. 67. Klee, Diaries, p. 8, no. 27. culture," CahiersdArt(Paris), 5eannee(1930), pp.
First published 1942. 68. Charles Baudelaire, "The Painter of Modern Life," 57-66, 139-45, 247-49, 295-99, 532-36
52. Klee, "Creative Credo" (1920), in The Thinking in Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art & Artists, 90. Leo Froebenius, essay in Prehistoric Rock Pictures
Eye: The Notebooks of Paul Klee, ed. Jurg Spiller, trans. R E. Charvet (Cambridge, England: (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1937),
trans. Ralph Manheim (New York: Wittenborn, Cambridge University Press, 1972), p. 398. First p. 28.
1961), p. 76. published in Paris, 1863. 91. See Werckmeister's essay in this book for an inter¬
53. Ibid., p. 77. 69. On Klee's Diaries, see Christian Geelhaar, "Journal pretation of Klee's specific address of the political
54. Klee, Diaries, p. 228, no. 831 (1908). intime oder Autobiographie? Uber Klees Tage- situation at this time.
55. Klee called attention to the art of the mentally ill in bucher," in Paul Klee: Das Fruhwerk 1883-1922 92. Klee's own Ur-oxen (1939; p. 309) well may re¬
his review for DieAlpen (January 1912) of the first (Munich: Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, spond to Picasso's minotaurs, as Glaesemer has
Blaue Reiter exhibition. After praising the art of 1979), pp. 246-60. suggested in Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen III
children, he wrote: "Parallel phenomena are pro¬ 70. Ernst quoted in Patrick Waldberg, Max Ernst (Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1979), p. 45. Picasso
vided by the works of the mentally diseased; nei¬ (Paris: Jean-Jacques Pauvert, 1958), p. 236. Au¬ visited Klee in Bern in 1937, and as recounted by
ther childish behavior nor madness are insulting thor's translation from the French. Pierre Daix, "eprouvait une tres vive admiration
words here, as they commonly are. All this is to be 71. Louis Aragon, "La Peinture au defi" (1930), re¬ pour le seul peintre de son epoque qui, avec Miro,
taken very seriously, more seriously than all the printed in Les Collages (Paris: Hermann, 1965), ait invente un registre de signes plastiques autre
public galleries, when it comes to reforming to¬ p. 67. The collage phenomenon was not limited que le sien." Daix, La Vie de peintre de Pablo
day's art." Review excerpted by Klee in his Diaries, to Paris: the same disjunctive space structures the Picasso (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1977), p. 280.
p. 266, no. 905 (1912). contemporaneous photomontages of Klee's Bau- 93. Brassai, "Du mur des cavernes au mur d'usine,"
56. The most important example of this literature, haus colleagues. Minotaure (Paris), nos. 3-4 (December 14, 1933),
Hans Prinzhorn's Bildnerei der Geisteskranken 72. Breton, "Artistic Genesis and Perspective of Sur¬ pp. 6-7. "Ce qu'on decele sous la transparence
(Berlin: Springer, 1922) was well known both to realism" (see n. 51, above), p. 20. cristalline de la spontaneite est ici une fonction
Klee and the Surrealists. See Werner Spies, "L'Art 73. Ibid., p. 21. vivante, aussi imperieuse, aussi irraisonnee que la
Brut avant 1967," Revue de I'Art (Paris), no. 1-2 74. "Auditive images, in fact, are inferior to visual respiration ou le sommeil."
(1968), pp. 123-26; Franqoise Will-Levaillant, images not only in clarity but also in strictness, and 94. "Blatt fur Blatt fallt zu Boden"; Lily Klee to Will
"L'Analyse des dessins d'alienes et de mediums en . . .they are not destined to strengthen the idea of Grohmann, July 8, 1937, quoted in Glaesemer,
France avant le Surrealisme," Revue de /'Art(Paris), human greatness. So may night continue to de¬ Handzeichnungen III, p. 27.
no. 50 (1981), pp. 24-39. scend upon the orchestra." Andre Breton, "Sur- 95. Each phantom "eidola," labeled in Greek, embod¬
57. See Lanchner's essay in this book, pp. 87-88. realism and Painting," in Surrealism and Painting, ies the essential form, or eidos, of the identity it
58. Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan, oder eine trans. Simon Watson Taylor (New York: Harper & possessed while on earth.
Geschichte vom Maler Klee und von der Kunst Row, Icon, 1972), p. 1. 96. Klee, Pedagogical Sketchbook, p. 54.
dieses Zeitalters (Munich: Kurt Wolff, 1921). 75. The musical quality of this series also closely re- 97. Glaesemer, Handzeichnungen III, p. 25.
59. 39 aquarelles de Paul Klee, Galerie Vavin-Raspail, lates it to the work of Klee. Miro acknowledged 98. "No one sees me changing. But who sees me? I am
Paris, October 21 -November 14, 1925. Introduc¬ the inspiration he received from music while creat¬ my own hiding place. . . ." Joe Bousquet, in La
tion by Louis Aragon reprinted in Will Grohmann, ing the Constellations, citing Bach and Mozart, Neige d'un autre age, quoted by Gaston Bach-
Paul Klee {Paris: Cahiers d'Art, 1929). Aragon per¬ two composers of great importance to Klee. Inter¬ elard, The Poetics of Space, trans. Maria Jolas
ceived the obstacles facing a German artist in a view with Sweeney, 1948, p. 10 (see n. 65, above). (Boston: Beacon, 1969), p. 88.
strongly nationalistic postwar France. His deft so¬ 76. Philippe Soupault, in Grohmann, Paul Klee (1929),
lution was to remind his audience of the well- p. xxv: "Le secret de I'art de Klee doit rester long-
established truisms that opposed "la lourdeur des temps encore notre secret."
Allemands" to "la finesse des Franqais." In this 77. Breton, "Second Manifesto of Surrealism," in
dichotomy, Klee landed cleanly on the French side Manifestoes (see n. 38, above), pp. 117-94. First
of the border. published in La Revolution Surrealiste (Paris), no.
60. Henri Michaux, "Aventure des lignes," preface to 12 (December 15, 1929).
Paul Klee by Will Grohmann (Paris: Flinker, 1954), 78. Soupault, p. xxv: "Une etoile plus que planete."
quoted in Henri Michaux (Paris: Musee National 79. Will Grohmann, "Paul Klee," Cahiers dArt (Paris),
d'Art Moderne, 1978), p. 85. 3e annee (1928), p. 296.
61. William Rubin, "Andre Masson and Twentieth- 80. Crevel, Paul Klee (see n. 37, above). For comment,
Century Painting," in William Rubin and Carolyn see Schiff, p. 136.
Lanchner, Andre Masson (New York: The Museum 81. For a facsimile of Klee's reply to Eluard, see L'Uni-
of Modern Art, 1976), p. 21. vers de Klee (Paris: Berggruen & Cie, 1955).
62. Miro probably would have known a painting very 82. Eberhard W. Kornfeld, Verzeichnis des Graph-
similar to Rosa Silber, the Order of the High C ischen Werkes von Paul Klee (Bern: Kornfeld und
(1921), in the collection of Paul Eluard. See Klipstein, 1963), no. 107.
Rosalind Krauss and Margit Rowell, Joan Miro: 83. "Je pense a la chaleur que tisse la parole / autour
Magnetic Fields (New York: The Solomon R. de ce noyau le reve qu'on appelle nous." Tristan
Guggenheim Foundation, 1972), pp. 28-29. Tzara, L'Hommeapproximatif (1931), reprinted in
63. This complex process began with the transfer into Oeuvres completes, vol. 2, ed. Henri Behar (Paris:
oil of an independent pencil drawing. Klee placed Flammarion, 1975), p. 82.
it on a piece of tracing paper, the bottom side of 84. For Bataille on Klee, see Cahiers dArt (Paris),
which was spread with black oil or printer's ink. 20e-21e annees (1945-46), p. 52, a special Klee
That in turn rested on a third sheet of paper. Using issue: "Klee, me semble-t-il, avait plutot la dou¬
a stylus to trace the pencil drawing, Klee im¬ ceur d'un vice, quelque chose de moins distant
pressed its image onto the bottom sheet in the que ne Test generalement la peinture, et que j'ai
black oil or ink from the tracing paper. When the du mal a distinguer de moi-meme."
watercolor was applied it left the drawing intact, 85. Dawn Ades, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed
and apparently superior, on account of the antipa¬ (London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978),
thy of oil and water. p. 230.
64. See William Rubin, Miro in the Collection of The 86. Documents (Paris), no. 5 (October 1929), pp.
Museum of Modern Art (New York: The Museum 286-87. See also Georges Limbour, "Paul Klee,"
of Modern Art, 1973), pp. 30-33. Documents, no. 1 (April 1929), pp. 53-54.
65. Max Ernst, Beyond Painting and Other Writings by 87. Klee, Diaries, p. 124, no. 425 (1902).
the Artist and His Friends, ed. Robert Motherwell 88. "Conversation avec Picasso," Cahiers dArt (Paris),
(New York: Wittenborn, Schulz, 1948), p. 8. Ernst lOe annee, nos. 7-10 (1935), pp. 173-74. Re¬
explained that this technique allowed him to assist printed in Dore Ashton, Picasso on Art
"as a spectator" at the birth of his work. Compare (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1972), pp.
Miro's claim that a picture "suggests itself under 7-13. Henri Matisse, "On Modernism and Tradi¬
my brush" (quoted by James Johnson Sweeney, in tion," The Studio, vol. 9, no. 50 (May 1935), pp
"Joan Miro: Comment and Interview," Partisan 236-39. Reprinted in Jack Flam, Matisse on Art
Review [New York], vol. 15, no. 2 [February 1948], (New York: Dutton, 1978), pp. 71-72. Max Ernst,
p. 212). For a comparable view, see Klee's On "Au-dela de la peinture," Cahiers dArt {Pans), 1 le
 From
Revolution
to Exile
O. K. WERCKMEISTER

In the early stages of the modernist tradition, its recoil; in the process, his understanding of the
challenge to established culture was often term "revolution," used time and again by the
linked to the radical dissidence or even revolu¬ proponents of the modernist avant-garde,5 had
tionary politics of Socialism and Anarchism. In reversed from left to right. In 1919, the left-
1968, Donald Drew Egbert compiled a dossier of wing, nonparliamentary government of Bavaria,
this early history in his book Social Radicalism soon to be ousted by military intervention,
and the Arts in Western Europe; in 1973, T. J. seemed to offer political confirmation of the
Clark, in The Absolute Bourgeois, evoked the original meaning of the term; in 1933, the right-
French revolution of 1848 as one of its pivotal wing national government of Germany, fully le¬
events; and in 1983, Hans Belting pinpointed galized by a parliamentary majority, advanced
the resulting historical contradiction: "In early the term in order to claim mass support for its
dreams of unity, political and aesthetic avantgar- swift dismantling of the democratic institutions
dism were programmatically linked. In historical on which modernist art had come to depend.
practice, the conflict between . . . aesthetic and Between these two dates, perhaps as early as
political utopia, between artistic autonomy and 1924, the postwar revolutionary aspirations of
political anarchy, broke out, as the history of the the workers' movement had abated everywhere
struggle regarding autonomous versus engaged in Central and Western Europe. The reversal of
art can show."1 significance in Klee's use of the term revolution
Paul Klee's career was not exempt from such was thus conditioned by historical reality, not by
struggles. On April 12, 1919, then living in any vacillations on his part. The original leftist
Munich, Klee responded to an invitation from connotations of the term as used within the
the painter Fritz Schaefler to join the artists' modern tradition had been cast in doubt for
advisory body of the second Raterrepublik, the him, as for many other modern artists, by be¬
Council Republic of Bavaria: wildering manipulations in the history of twen¬
tieth-century political ideology.6 To trace this
The Action Committee of Revolutionary Artists may
completely dispose of my artistic abilities. It is a matter process through the crucial dates in Klee's career
of course that I regard myself as belonging here, for from the record of his texts and pictures is the
after all, several years before the war I was already purpose of the present essay. To integrate the
producing in the manner that is now to be placed on a
process into an assessment of the political his¬
broader public base. My work and my other artistic
capabilities and insights are at your disposal!2
tory of early-twentieth-century Europe to which
Klee was subject as an artist remains a task for
More than twenty years later, on July 11, 1939, the future.
Klee, now living in exile in Switzerland and hav¬
ing applied to its Federal government for cit¬
izenship,3 made the following statement to the
Swiss authorities who reviewed his application:
"The severance of my civil service contract at
Dusseldorf [in 1933] took place because of the
German Revolution. Since I had nothing more to 1905: The February Revolution in
expect from the German state, I felt free of any Russia
ties to this state and entitled to a break of these
relations."4 When Klee first used the term "revolutionary" in
In the years between these two statements, his correspondence, he applied it to himself. On
the artist's attitude toward the German govern¬ December 9,1902, he relayed to his fiancee Lily
ment had reversed itself, from cooperation to Stumpf a report from his friend Hans Bloesch
 about scenes of poverty in Paris: came to a head during the Russian revolution of
February 1905 and its bloody suppression by the
Bloesch shivers in Paris until the end of December,
where poor devils with empty stomachs are reported Czarist government; the news was greeted with
to have dropped on the streets because of the cold. outrage in liberal circles throughout Western
Probably your shows for the common people in the Europe. Against such sentiments, Klee imme¬
Hoftheater only make sense at present if the room is
diately defined his own ironic distance from the
well heated. The rest is luxury and occurs in no republic
events, no matter how strongly he shared in
where one thinks democratically. I am not democratic,
only generally revolutionary.7 their condemnation:
Last night at the Lotmars the talk was of Russia. Never
At the age of twenty-two, Klee voiced for the
have I seen the old man so excited; all the while he
first time a principled reflection on why art looked so magnificent that I have to be grateful to the
ought to be justified to the common people, a criminals. I would never be able to take sides so wildly;
matter that was to worry him intermittently it is more like me to watch with a silent smile, even if
everything were blowing up. In the end I too belong to
throughout his career. In a democratic state, he
those people who die with a joke on their lips.12
assumed, the disparity between the "luxury" of
art and the misery of the lower class would have In the following two weeks, Klee began to make
to be resolved. However, aware of the cultural the etching Aged Phoenix (fig. I),13 the next to
limits of his nonconformist convictions as an last in the cycle of Inventions he had been work¬
artist, he claimed for himself the term "revolu¬ ing on since 1903.14 In a letter to Lily Stumpf of
tionary" rather than "democratic," which is both February 19, 1905, he explained the project,
less radical and more precise. Nevertheless, even taking a pessimistic view of Socialism:15 "One
in this early stage of Klee's career, while still an has to imagine, for example, a revolution has Fig. 1. Paul Klee (1879-1940). Aged Phoenix (Greiser
artstudentin Munich, hesoughtto align himself just happened; they have burned inadequacy Phoenix), 1905 / 36. Etching, 103/s x 79/i6 in. (26.3 x
19.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York,
with the "revolutionary" self-designation of the [Unzulanglichkeit], and it reemerges, rejuve¬
Purchase Fund
late-nineteenth-century modernist tradition, nated, from its own ashes. That is my belief."16
years before he began to assimilate modernist He does not say that a revolution has failed;
models into his art. rather that it has succeeded, but to no avail,
By 1905, when Klee had returned from a since the prerevolutionary state of inadequacy
study trip to Italy and was again living at his rises like the Phoenix from its ashes. The revolu¬
parents' home in Bern, his social life became tied tion had not just succeeded in Russia, however,
up with two people who were both more out¬ and thus Klee did not picture the Phoenix of
spoken in their leftist leanings than he. With the inadequacy as "rejuvenated." Instead, when he
first, Lily Stumpf, his fiancee in faraway Munich, reported a month later to his fiancee that he had
he maintained an intense, all-encompassing cor¬ completed the etching, he had reversed himself
respondence. She had deliberately emancipated to depict an "aged" Phoenix before rather than
herself from an upper-middle-class code of val¬ after the transition. He projected the full explan¬
ues and had not only defied her father and atory title for the etching in his letter: "Aged
engaged in a secret premarital sexual rela¬ Phoenix as a symbol of the inadequacy of things
tionship with Klee, but, more importantly, had human (including the highest ones) in critical
embarked on an intellectual, literary, and even times."17 And he commented: "The viewing of
political self-reflection that has only become ap¬ the image explains the epithet 'aged' to mean
parent since Klee's letters to her were published extremely decrepit and close to the end. . . .
in 1979. Stung by her father's blunt oppression, Here it is meant to have a funny effect, as a silent
she had gone so far as to espouse August Strind¬ punch line."18
berg's and Otto Weininger's critique of bour¬ What is the "funny effect"? It must have to do
geois sexual morality,8 and she was in touch with with the Phoenix not looking "decrepit" at all.
Russian anarchists in Munich.9 The second per¬ Here is a nude female figure with a bird's head,
son important to Klee upon his return to Bern an iconographical descendant of the Siren, the
was Philipp Lotmar, father of Fritz Lotmar, one of ancient mythological hybrid of woman and bird.
two high school classmates with whom Klee had Poised upright, her human body is tense, mus¬
remained close, and whose house he frequently cular, and sturdy, not wrinkled or sagging, but it
visited. Philipp Lotmar was a law professor at the is organically distorted, to the point of showing
University of Bern, a German Jew from Frankfurt only one breast, with arms and legs thinning out
with decidedly democratic views. He was per¬ at the extremities. If there is weakness, it con¬
sonally acquainted with the Russian Socialist Leo sists in her inability to move any further. She has
Deutsch, who had been extradited from Ger¬ lost one foot and must sustain herself by holding
many at the initiative of Bismarck, and whose onto a long staff. It is therefore not the figure's
published memoirs about his imprisonment in human nature that shows signs of advanced
Siberia Lotmar gave Klee to read. age, but her nature as a bird. Almost all of her
40 As a result of these encounters, Klee de¬ feathers have fallen off; a few small ones persist
veloped what in 1919 he retrospectively called here and there, but only the long feathers at the
(in an autobiographical digest of his diaries extremities suggest that her arms formerly were
known as the "Supplementary Manuscript") "an wings and that her buttocks ended in a tail. The
only very indirect interest in social and political symbolic bird of resurrection has lost her feath¬
questions."10 Klee became sympathetic to So¬ ers so as to reveal the ridiculously familiar female
cialism but remained skeptical of its prospects personification of Revolution depicted in count¬
for political success.11 Despite his detachment less images of the nineteenth century. Klee ap¬
on these grounds, he was caught up in the pears to have taken for his model Theophile
political debates of his friends. Their agitation Steinlen's May 1871 (fig. 2), a lithograph origi-
 sion from the crowd that it’s completely indifferent to
the individual human life. What is probably the case is
that a place like this totally numbs you in the long run.
For it is impossible to help wherever one should.23

Klee seems to have reenacted and recounted his

reading of Hans Bloesch's Paris visit of 1902. His
visual memory, as committed to the written re¬
flections of his letter, encapsulates his tenacious
if resigned awareness of the class limitations of
his art. This awareness must have prompted the
term revolution to have been evoked by the
sight of the sleeping workers on the ground.
Negatively tied to the image of their helpless
inertia, it is duly counterbalanced bythe sense of
moral frustration on the artists part.

1913: The Expressionist

Vi Counterculture
■v

No testimony known today would suggest that

Fig. 2. Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923). between 1906 and 1919 Klee continued to re¬
May 1871, 1894. Color lithograph, 916 x 1VA in. (24
flect on his early "interest in social and political
x 28.5 cm). Published in Le Chambard socialists
(Paris), May 26, 1894 questions." When he joined the modernist
movement in 1911, it still held enough cultural
nonconformism to get drawn into exasperating
nally published in Le Chambardsocialiste of May controversies conducted in openly political lan¬
26, 1894;19 he matched the bent-back posture guage in the public sphere of the press, books,
of the woman, who holds on to the banner for pamphlets, and debates. Indeed, it is in this
support, a single breast exposed. In both, the public sphere that the modernist movement was
female personification of Revolution faces im¬ termed radical and revolutionary, no matter how
mediate death. Steinlen had based his political remote it was from its late-nineteenth-century
allegory on an earlier oil painting, Louise Michel political radicalism or how confined it had be¬
on the Barricades (ca. 1885),20 depicting a his¬ come to mere cultural opposition.
toric event: Louise Michel facing the guns on the In Germany, the revolutionary self-designa¬
barricade in the defeated uprising of the Paris tion of dissident culture continued to be ad¬
Commune in Montmartre on March 18, 1871.21 vanced in ever more indiscriminate, potentially
Klees etching appears to be a mordant car¬ Anarchist terms. Thus, in the short-lived literary
icature of this heroic image of the dying female journal Revolution, which appeared in Munich
revolutionary. His figure bares not just her in 1913, the writer Erich Muhsam could declare:
breast, but her whole body is bared, and the
Revolution arises whenever a state of affairs has be¬
breast is revealed as the only one she has. At the come untenable: this state of affairs may be stabilized
top of her staff, in studied similarity to her own in the political or social conditions of a country, in an
head, is the skull of a dead phoenix, hence a intellectual or religious culture, or in the characteristics
phoenix who has failed to resurrect. This aged of an individual. . . .
Destruction and elevation are identical in the revolu¬
Phoenix parades the severed head of her pre¬
tion. All destructive pleasure is a creative pleasure
decessor as a trophy that belies the myth in (Bakunin).24
which she still believes, all the more ridiculous as
she holds out for her own rejuvenation. The By 1911, the political debate in Germany
about modern artwas no longer waged solely in
grotesque figure which cannot move personifies
terms of a potentially radical social critique, but
revolution aborted, and brandishes the proof
that revolutions cannot succeed. This must have in terms of nationalism and internationalism, as
an ideological projection of global economic
been the "funny effect" Klee had in mind.
policy. The latter debate became particularly ve¬
Less than four months after completing this
hement in the wake of the Agadir Crisis, with
satirical statement of political resignation, Klee
the two sides squaring off against one another
made his first trip to Paris. As he combined artis¬
in the publications A Protest of German Artists
tic sightseeing tours with forays into low-class
and In the Struggle for Art. In the same year, an
popular quarters, just as he had done in Naples
anonymous author published a pamphlet en¬
four years earlier,22 he was ever mindful of the
titled Sick German Art.2S As Theda Shapiro has
discrepancy between the high culture he was
seeking out and the squalor of social inequality noted, he

and poverty that had already then drawn his . . . likened the modern movement (consisting, for
attention. The experience once again evoked for him, of the . . . caricaturists of Simplicissimus as well
as the Expressionists) to a vast revolution from below
him the term revolution:
which aimed to destroy tradition, whose guardian, the
Another time we came in the early morning hours to Academy, was in the hands of the upper classes, and
Les Halles and saw prostitutes skipping rope with their, to replace it with rampant individualism. It was, he
men, one could think of the rococo. Yet near the walls said, "an irruption of the unruly masses, the forces
the workers were sleeping in rows, partly sitting up¬ from the depths, into the aristocratic realm of Art. A
right, recalling the revolution.. . . You get the impres¬ revolution which, perhaps, in its own realm is scarcely
 li. Aa*r»M«

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IHALBMONATSSCHR1FT PUR KULTUR UND DIE KONSTE

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WOWAKTO VAUXN
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Paul Ktee:

Fig. 3. Title page of DerSturm (Berlin), December 1913, Fig. 4. Title page of Simplicissimus (Munich), April 19,
illustrating Klee's Belligerent Tribe, 1913 1904, illustrating Thomas Theodor Heine's African
Danger

inferior to the French one of 1789 in force." "Art is for otherwise the black beasts will end up coming to
all, for the People, for the Proletariat!" the new Germany and abolish slavery among us."30 Fol¬
culture-dictators would proclaim. And he described lowing a leader who brandishes a red flag, a
a grisly prospect: "The millions from below grasp
throng of Blacks armed with spears and shields
the scepter; with laughter and scorn they destroy
everything that might recall former subordination
advances over a huge viaduct into a building
and slavery."26 that is a composite of factory halls and prison
cells. The outnumbered police try in vain to
Klee referred to these debates in his drawing block them—and at the same time to keep a
Belligerent Tribe (p. 131) of 1913, which was mass of white prisoners behind an already un¬
published on the cover of the Expressionist jour¬ hinged prison gate. The victorious Blacks below
nal Der Sturm in December of the same year (fig. lead the liberated white prisoners, their social
3) . With ironic aggressiveness, the drawing rep¬ diversity clearly suggested by their attire, in a
resents the modernist ideal of what Klee himself triumphal procession.
had called, in his January 1912 review of the first In this satirical exchange of savagery and free¬
Blaue Reiter exhibition, "primordial origins of dom, slavery and civilization, the group in the
art," comprising the art of children, primitives, foreground is based on the late-nineteenth-
and the insane.27 In Belligerent Tribe, a tightly century Socialist iconography of consolidated
packed throng of savages, drawn in the childlike masses marching frontally out of the picture
scheme of the diagonal cross, seems to move toward the viewer, as in Steinlen's cover
frontally out of the depth of the space. Com¬ lithograph for the sheet music of the Interna¬
posed of large and small figures, as if to dis¬ tionale (fig. 5).31 Heine has inserted this motif
tinguish between adults and children, the work into a larger illustrative context, hence reducing
portrays not just a throng of warriors, but, as the its scale and deflecting it onto an angle.
title says, an entire tribe. The appearance of the Steinlen's frontal scheme, which concentrates
group is further varied by perspectival increases only on the group, makes a point of loosening
in the size of the figures from left to right, sug¬ up the common forward march by staggering
gesting a rising and accelerating lateral move¬ the ranks and individualizing the figures' move¬
ment in addition to the forward thrust. Several ments, as if to emphasize the spontaneity of the
of the figures brandish their spears with agita¬ masses in banding together on their own. This
tion. Even their simplified faces, perceived as feature distinguishes the scheme from similar
primitive masks, seem to grimace menacingly. frontal depictions of uniformed soldiers advanc¬
The drawing seems to derive from a caricature ing in rank and file, as in Adolph von Menzel's
by Thomas Theodor Fleine in Simplicissimus (fig. illustrations for Friedrich Kugler's History of
4) , a satirical journal that had impressed Klee at Frederick the Great (fig. 6),32 which Klee may
the beginning of his career.28 On the title page of well have known, since he acknowledged hav¬
the issue of April 19,1904,29 Heine had equated ing been "influenced" by Menzel's illustrations
the military suppression of the Herero uprisings as early as 1903.33 That Klee should have varied
in the German colonies of South-West Africa the composition and the movements of his
with repressive domestic policies in Germany throng indicates that he adopted not the uni¬
itself. In a utopian reversal, he pictured the spec¬ form but the spontaneous forward march, not
ter of Blacks from Africa bringing freedom to the militaristic but the Socialist iconography. The
Germany under the title "African Danger." The lateral deflection of the scheme appears in an¬
caption reads; "It is high time that the govern¬ other political lithograph by Steinlen, entitled
ment take forceful action against the Hereros, The First of May (fig. 7) and published in Le
 I
. >tR«Ar/0

/POWER OEOEYTER
Fig. 6. Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905). Prussian Grenadiers March with Weapons in
Arms. Published in F. Kugler's History of Frederick the Great (Leipzig, 1840)
Fig. 5. Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. Title
page, sheet music of L‘Internationale, 1895.
Lithograph, 11 x 7!4 in. (28 x 18.3 cm). The
Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Paul
Proute

Fig. 7. Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The First of May, 1894. Color lithograph, 15% x 245/s
in. (40.2 x 62.4 cm). Published in Le Chambard socialiste (Paris), April 28, 1894

Fig. 8. Paul Klee. Children as Actors (Kinder als Schauspieler), 1913 /101. Pen and ink,
pencil on Japan paper, mounted on cardboard, 25/s x 6/2 in. (6.6 x 16.5 cm).
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

43
Chambard socialiste of April 28, 1894. Here an jected Steinlen s Socialist iconography to a sim¬
immense throng of workers, differently dressed ilar caricaturistic derision as in Aged Phoenix of
to show its international composition, is carrying 1905 (fig. 1). The comical exaggeration of the
tools as weapons in a march to battle.34 Al¬ masses' expressive drive blunts both the original
though it cannot be proved that Klee based his aggressiveness and the political resolve inherent
drawing on this particular lithograph, the anal¬ in the iconography. The lineup of manikins
ogy suggests itself, owing to the brandished drawn in the diagonal-cross scheme is a multi¬
weapons and the combination of lateral and plication of that in his contemporary drawing
frontal movements. If he did use it, he has sub¬ Children as Actors (fig. 8). These drawings taken
together fuse the notions of primitivism, child¬ typically Expressionist defiance. Yet for all its
likeness, and anticultural aggression common to implicit Socialist iconography, the picture carries
the avant-garde. no political significance. Walden, always keen
on contesting the faintest threat of censorship
With his childlike image of attacking savages,
to sexual and artistic freedom, was no advocate
Klee turned the original significance of the prim¬
of political engagement at that time. He pro¬
itives as symbols of political liberation into a
moted with increasing success an Expressionist
statement in the prewar art controversies in Ger¬
counterculture apt to accommodate Klee's non¬
many. Drawing their heat from political ide¬
conformity in just the artistic terms to which
ologies to which the various factions in the art
Klee himself had wanted to confine it all along.
market appealed, these controversies came to a
Six months later, Klee had completely intro¬
head in 1911 with the publication of Carl Vin-
verted the debative thrust of modern art into a
nen's A Protest of German Artists. In an essay
thematic and formal principle of a dynamic but
written in the fall of 1911 and published in the
resolved agitation. In the spring or summer of
Blaue Reiter in early 1912, Franz Marc had char¬
1914, shortly after his return from Tunisia, he
acterized the modernist painters as "The Sav¬
entered a categorical statement in his diary that,
ages of Germany," defiantly appropriating the
if the transcription of 1921 is faithful to the
term fauves, advanced against Matisse and his
original, excluded the idea of revolution from
followers in France a few years earlier:
this principle:
In our epoch of the great struggle for the new art, we
are fighting as "savages," albeit not organized ones, . . . surely I know very well that good must exist in the
against an old, organized power. The struggle appears first place, and yet cannot live without evil. Hence I
uneven; but in things spiritual, it is not the numbers would in every particular instance order the weight-
that prevail but the strength of the ideas. The dreaded relationships of both parts to a certain degree where
weapons of the "savages" are their new thoughts', they become bearable. Revolution I would not toler¬
they kill better than steel and break what was counted ate, but would certainly make one myself at the appro¬
as unbreakable.35 priate time.39

Marc's revolutionary rhetoric, with its Gedanken Klee's polarized sense of ethical balance appar¬
("thoughts") prevailing over weapons, is that of ently did not admit of any upset beyond his own
the German bourgeois revolution of 1848 rather control. His hypothetical claim to reserve to the
than the Socialist International, but his image of artist the prerogative of waging revolution is an
the savages on the attack against entrenched extreme of the term's crypto-political usage in
culture is like that of Klee's drawing. However the tradition of the avant-garde.
Klee's statement about the aggressive claims of
the avant-garde is not dead serious, as is Marc's
text, but appropriately self-ironical. It was 1919: The Munich Revolution
printed on the cover of Herwarth Walden's jour¬
nal of art and literature Der Sturm (Berlin) in At the end of World War I, Klee was faced for the
early December 1913. This was the first work of first time with the raw political reality of a revo¬
Klee's published in that journal and his first con¬ lution at home. His brief but dramatic involve¬
spicuous publication anywhere.36 Walden prob¬ ment with the failed German Revolution of
ably intended the drawing as a defiant response 1918-19 marks the high point of his political
to the storm of press debates provoked by his commitment to the idea.40 Within the span of
Erster deutscher Herbstsalon ("First German Au¬ seven months, from early November 1918 to
tumn Salon"), Berlin, of September 20 to De¬ June 1919, Klee experienced in rapid succession
cember 1, 1913. In the October issue of Der fear, hesitation, enthusiastic acceptance, disillu¬
Sturm, he had reprinted a provocative collection sion, recoil, and resignation, acting out the am¬
of quotations from the press that documented bivalence of the modern artist torn between the
and in turn fueled the debate about the exhibi¬ ideology of progressive culture and the revolu¬
tion. Strident examples of hostile and supportive tionary politics of mass movements.41
criticisms were squared off against one another In a letter to his wife and in his instant tran¬
in two opposing columns of text. After Kan¬ scription of it in his diary, he commented on the
dinsky, ever the prime target of press attacks, imminent outbreak of the revolution. Writing
Klee was singled out in two comments alter¬ while he was still serving as a soldier on the
nately acclaiming and ridiculing the perceived airfield of Gersthofen, he stressed his fear of
childlike quality of his pictures.37 The cultural revolution as an upset to the "ethical" principles
confrontation was summed up by the following of order and balance, which he had come to
statements: regard as fundamental for his art. He hoped that
in the imminent transition to a postwar society
Deutsche Tageszeitung:
But here the untalented are lined up in rank and file. there would be maintained a sense of "dignity."
Volkszeitung: This in turn required that "the people will not act
These "Youngsters" are no revolutionaries; most of but will be an instrument. If they take matters in
them are mature and detached, although pretty ec¬
their own hands, ordinary things happen, blood
centric.38
flows, and lawsuits are brought. This would be
The vague, defensive evocation of the term rev¬ trivial."42 When Klee recorded the letter in his
olutionary suggests the political limits of this diary,43 he exchanged the vague term "the peo¬
debate. Klee's drawing for the cover of Der ple" for the more radical "the masses," and con¬
Sturm must have seemed an apt pictorial com¬ sequently stated even more anxiously his moral
ment on charges such as this, at once confirm¬ and political prescription: "But when the masses
ing and refuting them by overstated irony in become active, what then? Then very ordinary
 drawings with the idea of revolution: "These
drawings of Paul Klee's are full of a revolutionary
paradox," he started his text. And he concluded
with the exclamation: "Here's to the life-giving
revolution! Here's to life-giving eroticism!!"45
According to Corrinth's and von Sydow's facile
equation of revolution and sexual license, Klee
was suddenly styled a revolutionary artist.
The sixth of Klee's Potsdamer Platz drawings
(1919; fig. 9), entitled "Yet Berlin, our citadel,
recorded an abrupt decupling of her citizens,"
illustrates how the city attracts the prostitute
population from capitals all over the world. Klee
adapted it from another drawing with no refer¬
ence to the text but with the explicit title Cosmic
Revolutionary (1918; fig. 10).46 Here the familiar
ingredients of Klee's fairy-tale landscapes of
1917 and 1918 appear stirred up within a space
where the location of ships, fish, birds, and stars

*9 tf
has become indiscriminate. All are oriented to¬
ward a huge solid shape vaguely suggestive of a
human profile. Klee meticulously copied the
Fig. 9. Paul Klee. Potsdamer Platz: VI. "Berlin dagegen
drawing for his illustration of Corrinth's story,47
unsere Hochburg buchtejahe Verzehnfachung seiner
Burger," 1919/15. Pen and ink on paper, mounted on straightening out the solid shape into the image
cardboard, 113/s x 85/8 in. (28.9 x 22 cm). Kunst- of a towering city labeled "Berlin," toward
museum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung which numerous arrows suggestive of popula¬
tion movements are concentrically converging.
Below, a little train taken from George Grosz's
Berlin cityscapes of 191748 races across an added
bridge, carrying wagonloads of prostitutes
toward the city.
When Klee drew these illustrations, he may
still have seen the revolution as no more than a
theme for a literary grotesque suitable for adap¬
tation to his own grotesque imagery. Yet once he
had returned to Munich around Christmas 1918
and resumed his activity as Corresponding Sec¬
retary of the New Munich Secession, he was
bound to notice that the revolutionary prospects
of his art were much farther-reaching, and po¬
tentially more serious, than this. In the succeed¬
ing four months, he found the art policies of the
three successive Council governments of Ba¬
varia increasingly favorable to the cause of mod¬
ernism. The second government even recog¬
nized as an advisory body the leftist Action
Committee of Revolutionary Artists, in which
Fig. 10. Paul Klee. Cosmic Revolutionary (Kosmisch- Expressionist painters under the leadership of
Revolutionar), 1918 /181. Pen on paper, 97/s x 85/8 in. Hans Richter had come together. On April 12,
(25 x 22 cm). Private collection, New York
1919, Klee was formally invited to join this com¬
mittee. Shedding the political hesitations he had
things will happen, blood will flow, and, worse expressed in the preceding months, he accepted
still: there will be lawsuits! How trivial!”44 enthusiastically, as his letter to Fritz Schaefler
However, Klee quickly discovered that the Ex¬ testifies. At a meeting of the Committee held in
pressionist counterculture in which he partici¬ the Landtag on April 22, the same that adopted
pated was being adjusted to the rhetoric of a motion by Hans Richter "to co-opt Klee into
revolutionary change. During the last days of his the Action Committee," an extreme program
military service at Gersthofen, or immediately was proposed: major state-owned art monu¬
after his provisional discharge, he was commis¬ ments and collections in Munich were to be sold
sioned to illustrate a text whose subject was abroad and the proceeds were to go for social
revolution: Curt Corrinth's Potsdamer Platz, a care.49 Although the record does not show
literary grotesque about a young man from the Klee's reaction to this proposal, it would have
provinces who brings sexual liberation to the squared with his long-standing if intermittent
prostitutes of Berlin—from sexuality as paid concern about the disparity between art as a
work to sexuality as enjoyment of life. The luxury and the poverty of the lower class, as he
Leipzig art historian and critic Eckart von Sydow, had voiced it in his very first self-designation as
who seems to have played a role in this commis¬ "revolutionary," on December 9, 1902.
sion, wrote a preface for the special edition, The plans of the Committee came to nothing,
where he identified the very essence of Klee's since a few days later the Council government
 Fig. 11. Paul Klee. Absorption (Versunkenheit), 1919 / 75. Pencil on notepaper, mounted on board, 10% x 73/iin.
(27 x 19.5 cm). Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, Galka Scheyer Blue Four Collection

was ousted through the occupation of Munich thorities, Klee wrote a much-discussed letter to
by the Freikorps troops. It was during this time, painter Alfred Kubin. He undertook a systematic
between May 1 and June 19, 1919, that Klee reckoning with the short-lived political illusion
made the large-scale, meticulous drawing Ab¬ he had shared. He couched his political judg¬
sorption (Versunkenheit; fig. 11), which has tra¬ ment in familiar idealist terms: "It was a real
ditionally been understood as a self-portrait. tragedy, a shattering collapse of a movement
With its firmly closed eyes and missing ears, it that was fundamentally ethical, but unable to
seems suggestive of Klee's long-standing claim stay clean of crimes, since in its overeagerness it
46 to an introspective withdrawal from the world set off wrong.''51 Yet once again he reflected
or even to the mystic closeness to God that he upon the discrepancy between the high culture
had voiced in his diaries as early as 1901. Now, to which his art belonged and the social con¬
during the days of street fighting and mass ex¬ cerns expressed in his letters of 1902 and 1905:
ecutions in Munich, he pictured his introspec¬ "However ephemeral this communist republic
tion with an expression so extreme that it bor¬ appeared from the very beginning, it never¬
ders on self-mocking caricature.50 theless offered an opportunity for an assess¬
On June 10, 1919, on the eve of his departure ment of the subjective possibilities to exist in
for Switzerland, where he was going to escape such a community. ... Of course a pointedly
possible prosecution from the military au¬ individualistic art is not suitable for appreciation
by all; it is a capitalist luxury."52 And he restated pianism to social practicality.59 It was Gropius's
in his letter to Kubin what he had written to Lily premise that the freedom of artistic work be
Stumpf seventeen years earlier: "The rest is lux¬ guaranteed by the administrative autonomy of
ury and occurs in no republic where one thinks art institutions, which were not to be account¬
democratically."53 able to political control. As long as he belonged
As noted above, Klee's concerns had been to the faculty, Klee was a firm supporter of that
targeted for a radical resolution by the Action premise. In fact his resignation from the
Committee of Revolutionary Artists of April 22, Bauhaus faculty in 1930 may have had to do
which, after co-opting him, demanded the sale with being tired of the incessant political de¬
of art works in order to obtain funds for social bates that continued to be waged about the
care. How would Klee have voted on that mo¬ school60 and that, particularly after Hannes
tion? Meyer's replacement as director by Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe, were being carried into the school
itself. By taking an appointment as a professor at
1920-21; After the Revolution the Dusseldorf Academy, a traditional state in¬
stitution, Klee may have hoped to remove him¬
With the exception of one drawing of 1930,54 self even further from the politicization of mod¬
there seems to be no further mention of the ern art in Germany, remaining oblivious to the
term revolution in the subsequent record of political liabilities of its controversial installation
Klee's career, which took off rapidly in the new as the official visual culture of the Weimar Re¬
democratic culture of the Weimar Republic and public. However, less than two years later, he
was state-approved through his appointment to found himself confronted with a much more
the Bauhaus in October 1920. Concurrently, violent political realignment of art than had oc¬
when in 1919-21 he prepared a revised literary curred in 1919. And once again, the key ide¬
version of his diary,55 he omitted the earlier men¬ ological term he had to deal with was
tions of the term. His December 9, 1902, de¬ revolution.
scription of himself as "generally revolutionary"
may never have been entered in the diary at all;
however he definitely changed the passages of
February and June 1905 referring to the etching
Aged Phoenix and his night excursion to Les
Halles in Paris, recasting them in a nonrevolu¬
tionary sense, if his letters to Lily Stumpf can be 1933: The Dismissal and Emigration
taken as coming close to the original wording of
his diaries. When Hitler's coalition government was ap¬
In reevaluating the Aged Phoenix, Klee now pointed to office on January 30,1933, Klee, like
compared his etching with Ovid's literary version the majority of Germans, apparently refused to
of the myth, where the transition from death by believe that the National Socialists would go
fire to new life is replaced by organic self-re¬ through with the extremist policies they had
generation: "Although Ovid does not fit [the announced during the years of their ascendancy
etching], some nice things are to be read there in the Weimar Republic.61 He remained aloof
about this bird (Metamorphoses XV 393f.). I pre¬ from those artists and intellectuals who imme¬
fer that he not be forcefully burned; in this I diately attempted to resist National Socialism in
agree with Ovid."56 Klee's new, nonviolent and the name of freedom and democracy.62 The
nonrevolutionary interpretation of his etching, democratic plurality obtained by the National
no longer referring to the image of death on the Socialist party in the two elections of 1932 only
barricades on which he had originally based it, confirmed his disdain for the common people,
culminated in a nonhistorical, perpetual which must have hardened after many years of
"rhythm of inadequacy," tragical and comical at popular hostility to modern art. Thus, on the
once.57 The historical critique of revolution of night of January 30, 1933, he wrote to his wife:
fifteen years earlier was turned into a cyclical "That the whole can ever be helped I do not
myth of resigned rejuvenation without change. believe any more. The people are too ill suited
As to his impression of Les Halles, Klee re¬ for reality, stupid in this respect."63
wrote it as a merely picturesque tableau of dep¬ Klee's assessment of the political situation of
rivation: "The atmosphere of rotting fish, dust, January 1933 recalls his fears of and contempt
tears, work, the horse on the ground, rope¬ for the masses poised for revolution in late Oc¬
skipping cocottes. . . . The sleepers on the tober 1918. The failure of Munich's revolutionary
wall."58 The "sleepers on the wall" are no longer government, to which he had briefly committed
identified as workers and no longer recall the himself in April 1919, must have contributed to
revolution, as they had in Klee's original passage his assessment. And his complaint, "The people
in the letter of 1905. His explicit moral brooding don't support us," in his speech at Jena of Janu¬
over the impossibility of help has dissolved into ary 26, 1924, coming as it did after years of
an "atmosphere" where "tears" and "work" rightist political attacks on the Bauhaus at
poetically blend with the smell of rotten fish. Weimar, suggests that even the attempt to de¬
These changes coincide with Klee's appoint¬ velop a visual culture of democracy there had
ment to the Bauhaus, where Walter Gropius not brought him, as a modern artist, any closer
turned the program of the Arbeitsrat fur Kunst to "the people" and their concerns.
(Working Council for Art) into that of a state Yet Klee's detachment from politics, sustained
institution, moving from revolutionary uto¬ by now through years of resignation, seems to
have prompted him, for a short while at least, to although polarized time frame—"he still has
doubt that art would actually be completely sub¬ some hopes" versus "I am preparing myself. . .
sumed under the imminent political changes of for the most negative turn of events"—with
1933, in spite of instantaneous and continuing Klee's cherished "calm" as a desperate, passive,
indications to the contrary. On February 1, two fleeting synthesis, subject to "wait and see"
days after the installation of the new govern¬ It was in this state of mind that Klee brooded,
ment, the National Socialist newspaper Die Rote in a letter of April 6 to his wife in Dessau, over
Erde carried a full-page racist broadside against the indignity of documenting his Aryan descent
the Dusseldorf Academy under the headline "Art to the authorities. Hoping he would not be re¬
Swamp in Western Germany." It blasted the quired to do so, he vowed not to undertake
school as a haven for Jewish artists, staffed at anything on his own in this regard: "I'd rather
the bidding of Klee's Jewish dealer Alfred take adversity upon me than represent the tragi¬
Flechtheim, whose deliberate campaign for the comical figure of one who curries favor with
Jewish corruption of German art had culmi¬ those in power."70
nated in Klee's appointment: Yet a few days later, he solicited legal docu¬
And then the great Klee makes his entrance, already mentation of his grandparents' "religious affilia¬
famous as a teacher of the Bauhaus at Dessau. Fie tells tion" at the places where they had lived.71 This
everyone that he has pure Arabic blood, but is a typical was more than a mere formality. His National
Galician Jew. He paints ever more madly, he bluffs and Socialist opponents from the Kampfbund fur
bewilders, his students are gaping with wide-open
deutsche Kultur (Fighting League for German
eyes and mouths, a new, unheard-of art makes its
entrance in the Rhineland.64 Culture) had turned a detail of his biography,
that his mother's ancestry was possibly rooted in
The article concluded with the categorical de¬ North Africa, into a charge of Semitic origins.
mand to "eradicate" the whole "system." On the Hence the sentence in the Rote Erde of February
same day a National Socialist official replaced 1: "He tells everyone that he has pure Arabic
the Academy director.65 Still, ten days later Klee blood, but is a typical Galician Jew." Later in the
did not let the first rumors about possible per¬ year, Robert Bottcher, in his book Kunst und
sonnel changes in the faculty worry him.66 He Kunsterziehung im neuen Reich, made dear its
was attempting to assess the situation by some
source: "There is the Bauhaus professor of many
comparative historical studies of his own: "I am
years, Paul Klee, who, as the Jew Hausenstein
reading (in Mommsen) about Caesar, after hav¬
writes in his book Kairuan, has Saracenic blood
ing read about Hannibal, and at the same time [I
in his veins."72
am reading] Stendhal's Napoleon. Have to be a
Indeed Hausenstein, although by no means
little while in the company of these kinds of Jewish, had in his influential monograph of
geniuses. Pleasing to note that there are still
1921, interpreted Klee's trip to Tunisia of April
other formats besides Hitler."67 1914 as a profoundly meaningful return of the
As Klee was pondering with admiration the
artist to his biological origins.73 Klee had submit¬
lives of the great dictators of the past, and found
ted to Hausenstein an autobiographical digest
to his relief that Hitler did not measure up to
of his diaries, and Hausenstein had taken his cue
them, he may still have thought, as many Ger¬
from what Klee had written there about the
mans did, that the National Socialist govern¬
possible Oriental ancestry of his mother: "Is half
ment was not going to last. By the end of March,
Swiss. (Basel) The other part of her descendance
party officials had searched his home in Des¬
has not been completely clarified, it may be
sau;68 yet on April 3, Klee still hoped that he
Oriental via Southern France."74
would be able to accommodate himself to the
Hausenstein had thus popularized Klee's hy¬
new authorities:
pothetical mixed origin as a symbol of the unre¬
It was possible for me to speak with Junghanns [the solved cultural discrepancy between Europe and
new director] quite openly. It is of course my turn to be
suspended; but he still has some hopes, through giv¬
the Orient. Twelve years later, this speculation
ing me a different assignment in the curriculum, with¬ came to haunt the artist. No doubt in fear of yet
out impairing my freedom of teaching. I am quite another house search, he applied his scissors to
calm; after having been through worse things, I am the word "Oriental," cutting it from the original
preparing myself from the outset for the most nega¬
text of his autobiographical digest of his diaries
tive turn of events and can hence wait and see.69
(fig. 12).75 Tragicomically, Klee's "ancestry card"
Even at the most critical juncture of his career as only reached him by mail in Switzerland in June
a public official, Klee was rationalizing the im¬ 1935, a year and a half after his emigration.76
pending political showdown into a transitory The Prussian Ministry of Culture had not

uuuz~ vifas ChtA tf(i

Fig. 12. Paul Klee. Supplementary Manuscript, 1919, with word cutout. Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
cared to wait that long. On April 7, 1933, the By October 22, Klee's wife had begun to raise
"Law for the Reconstitution of the Civil Service" the possibility of leaving Dusseldorf, in part be¬
was passed, which permitted the Ministry to cause Klee, now unemployed, could no longer
make a clean sweep of the country's museums afford the house he had just rented, but pre¬
and academies, discharging the leading repre¬ sumably also because of worries that he would
sentatives of modern art regardless of their expose himself too much if he stayed on in the
race.77 On April 21 Klee was suspended, and city, even as a private citizen. He still thought it
sometime in the fall he was dismissed.78 In an possible to withdraw to the countryside in order
article entitled "Toppling Art Idols," published in to continue working.80 However, his business
the Deutsche Kultur-Wacht, the National So¬ connections in Germany were no longer viable.
cialist art writer Robert Scholz perceived Klee's His general sales contract with Flechtheim in
dismissal, along with that of two other artists, as Berlin, who had represented him since 1925,81
"such an important step on the way toward the could not be renewed. In this situation, Klee
liberation of German art after its fourteen-year acted with dispatch. On October 21, 1933, he
long gagging by elements of alien blood" that in traveled to Paris, where on October 24 he
a long, programmatic diatribe against modern signed, with Flechtheim's consent, a new gen¬
art, he singled out Klee as an extreme case: "And eral contract with the dealer Daniel-Henry
that one could once regard Paul Klee as a great Kahnweiler.82 Only sometime after his return on
artist, will be, for future generations, one of the October 27 did he finally decide to emigrate,
clearest examples of the complete decline of the and on December 23 he and his wife went into
individualist art epoch."79 exile.

Fig. 13. Paul Klee. Imponderable, 1933 / 36 (L 16). Brush with black watercolor on Ingres paper, mounted on
cardboard, I8V2 x 245/s in. (47.1 x 62.5 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

The Historic Drawings of 1933

On January 31, 1933, Klee wrote to Will series of a completely different form: no straight
Grohmann: lines, no abstraction, but comparatively realistic,
The year 1933 has started with new drawings made up figurative scenes, full of curvilinear volume and
of unabashed, supposedly straight lines. Am I there¬ movement, made up of dense, small, and varied
fore now feeling more of a sunny sentiment, or do the pencil strokes. This second group of drawings
drawings come about because I am feeling more of a
must be those Klee mentions in the same Janu¬
sunny sentiment??
A problem for more stupid art historians [than you]. ary 30 letter to his wife where he comments on
Yet it is no doubt a more serious question how much the change of government (see n. 63). During
happiness can reside in a few lines. these days, Klee's political self-reflections appar¬
Something else: Our Hitler!83 ently entered such an acute phase that he imme¬
The "drawings made up of unabashed, sup¬ diately began to act them out in his work. After
posedly straight lines" are listed under the first his account of political events, he wrote of a
fifty or so numbers of Klee's oeuvre catalogue sudden, impulsive start of work on these new
for that year.84 They are followed by another drawings:
Fig. 14. Paul Klee. So to Speak (Sozusagen), 1933 (L9). Brush with violet watercolor on Ingres paper, mounted on
cardboard, 19’/g x 243/a in. (48.6 x 61.9 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

With these observations, then, I am sending this report artist in exile, although he was still far from
to press85 and am adding, for your eyes only, the event, envisaging the need to emigrate. He elaborated
of no concern to the public, that in recent days I was on the term "reacting" in a further account of
caught up in a mild drawing frenzy. However, in todays
the compulsive drawing period on February 5,
world, this is such a private matter, it will, if things
continue in this way. . . take a long time until one day 1933, when he wrote to his wife:
it will be noticed as [part of] cultural history and art
Since my return from Venice I haven't worked as in the
history. Then perhaps no one will be able to say any
two [last] weeks. . . . The banishing of all skepticism
more, without looking it up in the dictionary, who the
from this process has succeeded once again. On this
great Hitler actually was.
occasion, many things are being released which were
This last train of thought belongs in the realm of the
about to become dead weight. There are several
semblance of reaction artists sometimes cultivate in
drawings that expressly deal with the shedding of
order, by posthumous leaps, to have been here already
dead weight, rather reactive things, yet no longer at all
in the future.86
of the earlier, drastically reactive kind, but even so they
The suggested chronological distinction is his¬ are sublimated, or refined. Imponderable [fig. 13] and
So to Speak [fig. 14] are probably the main examples of
torically crucial. The words "the year 1933 has
this.87
started" in his letter to Grohmann refer to the
early days of January. The words "in recent days" In surveying the "two weeks" from approx¬
in his letter to Lily Klee refer to the last days of imately January 20 to the date of the letter, it
that month, that is to say, the days of the termi¬ seems that Klee was bent on clarifying the rela¬
nal government crisis of the Weimar Republic. tionship between the "happiness" of which he
Klee's concluding sentence in the second letter, wrote to Grohmann and the unspecified feel¬
that the artistic attitude belongs in the "realm of ings of the "drawing frenzy" of which he wrote
the semblance of reaction," is one of the most his wife: "shedding of dead weight," "reactive
trenchant testimonies of his political self-reflec¬ things," and "skepticism," on the one hand, and
tion as an artist, no doubt sharpened by the "successful banishment," "sublime," and "re¬
recollection of his own intermittent, tentative, fined" on the other.88 The two abstract drawings
and disappointed political concerns since 1905. Klee singled out as examples of the latter cate¬
By projecting into the historical perspective of gory both deal with the script of uncertainty:89
eternity the modern artist's imaginary triumph the question mark doubting a manifest balance,
over the dictator who had just come to power, the quotation marks encasing point and comma
Klee retracts such a triumph into the hypo¬ of a figure of speech. Sublimation and refine¬
thetical. His impulsive, or compulsive, work on ment are thematically associated with sus¬
the drawings makes his reaction a real one—yet pended judgment.
it is at the same time only one of "semblance," In spite of the decidedly private character of
bound to remain private or even secret, since this enterprise, five or six months later, after his
under the incipient dictatorship it can no longer suspension from the Academy, Klee felt com¬
be aimed at any public. Klee thus circumscribed pelled to show a collection of his drawings from
the confines of pictorial reflection and self-ex¬ the first half of 1933 to at least a few confidants.
pression to which he was to remain subject as an The Swiss sculptor Alexander Zschokke, Klee's
former colleague at the Dusseldorf Academy, sion to the Kampfbund was not acted upon, for
has related in a memoir how in the late summer a few days later the faculty decided to dissolve
or fall of 193390 Klee paid him a visit in his house the Bauhaus. The students' initiative was part of
on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, together with the effort, in the spring of 1933, of a number of
Walter Kaesbach, the dismissed director of the writers and artists to ingratiate modern art with
Academy. "Klee appeared with a large portfolio the new authorities. At the same time Alfred
and notified us that he had drawn the National Rosenberg, the chief party spokesman on mat¬
Socialist Revolution."91 The excitement with ters of culture, was attempting to position the
which his former colleagues read these draw¬ Kampfbund as the agency to assume direction
ings as subversive denunciations of the new re¬ of National Socialist art policies. In the ensuing
gime has puzzled later readers. Even Zschokke debates, the term revolution was claimed and
admitted that the first drawings Klee pulled contested by both sides. Some modern artists
from his portfolio—"after what one had suf¬ and their defenders used it to affirm a kinship of
fered and experienced in the reality of the [1933] their art with the new direction in politics. Thus,
German revolution—radiated something funny Bruno E. Werner, in his article "The Rise of Art,"
and seemed by no means to correspond to the which appeared in the national newspaper
serious situation the artist himself was in." These Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of May 12, 1933,
were the abstract drawings from early January,92 declared "that indeed the new art was the pi¬
but none of the drawings Klee could have in¬ oneer of the national revolution," and that the
cluded, most of which must have been repre¬ leading modern artists, Klee among them,
sentational, refers overtly to National Socialist "were consciously or unconsciously the bearers
themes, in either imagery or title.93 To be sure, of the national revolution." And he concluded:
after having endured a house search at Dessau Clarification will now take place, and there are suffi¬
as early as March, Klee could not possibly have cient grounds to assume that the leading men of the
risked compiling a series of antigovernment car¬ new Germany know which tasks the total state has to
icatures. Moreover, in view of his uncertain solve here: that is, to impart to art something of its
revolutionary fervor; to put it in touch with the com¬
hopes for accommodation during the spring
munity of people and to take the place of past dynas¬
and summer of 1933, one cannot expect him to ties and of the art-collecting upper bourgeoisie.95
have made a politically unequivocal statement,
even one obscured by the modernist sophis¬ If Klee read the national paper, which is more
tication of his imagery. Finally, after spending than likely, Werner's plea may have recalled to
twenty-five years of his career steering his art him, almost line for line, his own failed revolu¬
away from visual actuality, Klee was scarcely tionary aspirations as he had voiced them four¬
about to engage in overt historical commentary. teen years earlier in his letter to Kubin. Werner's
What, then, was the sense of Klee's claim statement reads like a desperate attempt to tack
"that he had drawn the National Socialist Revo¬ the claims of an antibourgeois cultural critique,
lution"? It is not the imagery of politics but the whereby modernism had been launched origi¬
political definition of art itself that is at issue nally, onto a totalitarian mass movement, with
here. For Klee, who in earlier times of political disingenuous disregard for the political contra¬
change had linked his modernist posture with dictions involved.
his revolutionary sympathies, the drastic re¬ Rosenberg rebutted the promodernist argu¬
orientation of cultural policy affecting the arts ments hinging on the term revolution in several
under the new government, which had come to speeches and articles, drawing a firm line be¬
power in the name of the masses, could not tween modernist claims and the significance of
leave him indifferent as an artist, no matter how the term for the National Socialist movement. In
aloof he would remain as a citizen. All the more two lead articles for the Volkische Beobachter in
so since the word revolution, which he appar¬ July—entitled, respectively, "Revolution in the
ently chose for his pictorial comment on the Visual Arts"96 and "Revolution as Such!"—
National Socialist regime, was the key term, dur¬ Rosenberg launched programmatic attacks
ing the spring and early summer of 1933, over against Expressionism on the basis of his own
which that regime was waging political debates understanding of the term. On July 15, he pre¬
about a possible tolerance of modern art. sided over a public rally of the Kampfbund on
the subject of revolution in art, and he con¬
demned Expressionism.97 By this time, he was
1933: The Political Debates about able to refer to Hitler's two speeches of July 1 and

Modern Art 6, in which the new chancellor declared the

National Socialist revolution accomplished. And

On April 11, the day the police raided the on July 14, at yet another rally of the Kampfbund

Bauhaus in Berlin for Communist materials and in Berlin, Rosenberg delivered a speech on the

temporarily closed it, the student body submit¬ theme "Revolution in the Fine Arts?"98 Finally, in

ted a memorandum to the Kampfbund fur an even more programmatic article entitled

deutsche Kultur in which it was stated: "The Coming Style," published in the Volkische
Beobachter of the same day, Rosenberg singled
The students of the Bauhaus are well aware of the new
out Bauhaus art in an attack on those who were
situation created by the national revolution. ... No
doubt only the future will tell in which direction artistic arguing for toleration of modern art in the new
creation in the new Germany will turn. ... To cooper¬ state under the catchword revolution. He
ate in this task is. . . the duty of every German artist, wrote:
of every art school and every student.94
The press, which has remained Jewish and otherwise
Their concluding en-bloc application for admis¬ resists the new Germany, . . patemalistically praises
the "revolutionary will to culture of national socialist illustrative manner. Several of the drawings actu¬
youth.". . . It is characteristic that the "revolutionaries" ally address the challenge to "abstract" or "Ex¬
in the realm of architecture are almost all adherents of pressionist" art in the name of the unequivocal
the former Dessau Bauhaus. ... It is precisely the
realism the new regime was putting forth. A few
parallelism between exalted painting and dreariest
architecture which shows that the origins of feeling days before he emigrated, Klee was still uncer¬
with the [so-called] revolutionaries is phony in and of tain about the course German art would take
itself.99 under the new state, for on December 8, 1933,

Hitler himself adopted Rosenberg's uncom¬ he wrote to Alois Schardt, the former director-

promising antimodernist posture almost word designate of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and

for word in his own speech about cultural policy one of the unsuccessful proponents of Expres¬

at the Party rally at Nuremberg two months sionism as a suitable art for the National So¬

later.100 Finally, the term revolution was institu¬ cialists: "I ask: what will the German Art spon¬

tionalized in the National Socialist art admin¬ sored by the state look like?"102 Indeed, it took
istration when Joseph Goebbels, in his speech at the new German art administration until 1937 to

the festive inauguration of the Reich's Chamber achieve a unified policy, but its hostility to mod¬

of Culture on November 16, 1933, in Berlin, ern art and insistence on realism were clear from

"emphatically underlined the revolutionary the beginning. In a partly mimetic, partly satiric,

character which is at the base of this fundamen¬ partly argumentative way, Klee put the newly

tal reordering of all work in culture."101 propagated realism to the test, confronting it

It is clear, then, that in the months between with forms and themes of his own modernist

April and July 1933, Klee was able to observe in tradition. In retrospect, it also appears as if he

the press and in the art world the speedy for¬ were methodically laying the groundwork for

mulation of National Socialist art policies that the style of corporeal figuration he eventually

established the new government's intransi¬ adopted in 1937, when his confrontation with

gent^ antimodernist posture. This process had National Socialist art politics was no longer di¬ A
by no means been widely foreseen, even at the rect, yet all the more painful than in 1933.
House Revolution (1933 / 94), the only draw¬ Fig. 15. Paul Klee. The Work of Art (Das Kunstwerk),
moment when the new government took office
ing of 1933 bearing the word revolution in its 1933 / 154 (S 14). Pencil on paper, 91/2 x 77/a in. (24 x
on January 30, 1933. The showdown between 20 cm). Private collection, Switzerland
the cultural authorities of the party and the rep¬ title, cannot be located at the present time;103

resentatives of modern art was centered on the hence the inquiry cannot begin at the most ob¬

term revolution, which both sides were using vious point. In fact House Revolution was the

with different meanings and intentions. It hap¬ only work whose title contained the term until

pened to have been a key term in Klee's own the panel painting Revolution of the Viaduct of
political self-reflection as a modern artist from 1937, after which the word does not recur in

the beginning of his career. Klee's oeuvre. However, it is possible to single

out a group of drawings in which the renewed
debate between traditional and modern art ap¬
Klee's Historic Themes of 1933 pears to be at issue. In The Work of Art (fig. 15),
two men are standing before a giant sculpture
To coordinate the chronology of art-political of a horse on a pedestal. The smaller man, a
events in Germany during the year 1933 with spectator with his hands in his coat pocket,
the making, over the course of several months, looks up at the horse. The taller one, nude, talks
of more than two hundred "historic" drawings down to him. The spectator is caught in the
by Klee would be an important task. It involves middle between the horse and the nude man,
the problem of the chronological sequence and both moving toward him, but he appears to
accuracy with which Klee entered his works into remain unconvinced. Faced with the reassertion
his oeuvre catalogue each year. It also involves of traditional art, to which this drawing seems to
the changes in his political consciousness in the refer, Klee recalled the most antitraditional stage
course of these dramatic months, which, after in his career, the years 1912 and 1913, when he
all, carried him from the expectation of accom¬ transformed his figure style into expressive ab¬
Fig. 16. Paul Klee. Exercises at the Cross (Ubungen am
modating himself to the authorities as a teacher straction. In 1913 he had adapted from children's
Kreuz), 1933 / 108 (Qu 8). Pencil on paper, 7’A x 8Va
at the Academy to the diminished hopes of at drawings the diagonal cross for the extreme in. (18.5 x 21 cm). Private collection, Switzerland
least being tolerated as a free artist, and, finally, schematization of figures into manikins (fig.
to the decision to emigrate, all within the span 8).104 Now he juxtaposed such a figure with a
of a few months, from April to October. And realistic counterpart in the drawing Exercises at
furthermore Klee had already started the series the Cross (fig. 16), referring both to the artist's
during the government crisis of late January, comparative exercise of drawing two types of
before Hitler had come to power. These ques¬ figures in a diagonal-cross scheme and a gym¬
tions of historical chronology cannot yet be re¬ nastic competition between the figures them¬
solved. All that can be attempted at this stage is selves.
to discern within the entire body of drawings A huge nude Atlas figure in a realistic style
pictorial statements about the course or fate of reminiscent of Leonardo or Durer is immo¬
modern art under the rapidly unfolding dic¬ bilized, legs spread apart, bearing a horizontal
tatorship. weight, perhaps a pediment, above him. His
It is precisely by deviating from established smaller, surely weaker counterpart, with the di¬
modern forms that these drawings are signifi¬ agonal cross abstractly superimposed upon his
Fig. 17. Paul Klee. Dialogue about the Concept X
cant. Klee suddenly abandoned the various body, freely bobs in the air, out of touch with
(Zweigesprach uber den Begriff X), 1933 / 324 (B 4).
modes of stylization he had pursued thus far and both ground and roof. The drawing seems to Pencil on paper, 7’/8 x 125/s in. (18 x 32 cm). Private
drew a host of themes in a straightforwardly present an inconclusive alternative between collection, Switzerland
 functionless expressive form and subordinated, ing and thus to Klee's dismissal from the Dus-
conventional form. Its composition follows seldorf Academy or, more figuratively, to his de¬
Klee's long-established mode of thinking in letion from the list of German artists acceptable
polar opposites, and he may have conceived of to the government. However, the pictorial state¬
the drawing as striking yet another "balance." In ment is not as one-sided as this. The diagonal
Dialogue about the Concept X (fig. 17), the de¬ cross is solidly integrated into the multifaceted
bating sense of such visual thinking is made pattern of the face made up from overlapping
explicit. Two stylistically different figures, not planes, a face pattern of which Klee produced
quite so mutually exclusive as those in Exercises several examples in 1933 and 1934. More specif¬
at the Cross, engage in a dialogue about the ically, with its earth colors ranging from gray to
underlying scheme of abstraction, the unknown ocher, the picture appears to be a schoolbook
quantity "X." The figure on the left, conforming exercise in Cubist portraiture. Within it, the con¬
to that very scheme, moves its legs and arms cept X becomes the hallmark, or stigma, of
freely in expressive excitement; the one on the modernism, all the more pressing since "X" de¬
right remains unaffected, defensively closing it¬ notes, as an algebraic sign, an unresolved equa¬
self off and crossing its legs in ironic discomfort. tion. As was his habit, Klee deployed his pictorial
In Stiff Already! (fig. 18) there occurs another thought in polar opposition. From the viewpoint
such polar altercation. Here the simplified man¬ of content, the crossing-out is a brutal, defacing
ikin of a child's drawing is tossed back and forth slash, and the expression of the face may be
Mi <>, in a game between a little girl and an aged man. perceived as sad; from the viewpoint of form,
As the man catches it in his huge, grabbing the crossing-out provides a solid structure, and
Fig. 18. Paul Klee. Stiff Already! (Schon Steifl),
1933 / 139 (R 19). Pencil on paper, 614 x 814 in. (15.8 hands, the figure becomes lifeless, though it still the expression of the face appears defiant. The
x 21 cm). Private collection, Switzerland raises its arm stumps and opens its eyes wide in a underlying idea of a convergence between face
last, frozen gesture of excitement. The drawing and picture, or of "the face of the picture," had
appears to be a succinct allegory of the impasse long been essential for Klee's pictorial form in¬
in which Klee had found himself since 1930, struction.106
when his concept of childlike art and the ideals It is probably not by chance that the firmly
of untamed natural immediacy associated with closed eyes of the face in Struck from the List
it (dating from before World War I) had been recall the self-portrait Absorption (fig. 11) Klee
called into question because they conflicted had drawn in May 1919 when the Munich revo¬
with the concept of a "professional" control of lution was being crushed. The constrained phys¬
elementary forms.105 All these satirical show¬ iognomic expression suggested by the straight
downs between abstract and realistic form ap¬ horizontal lines is exacerbated by the tightly
pear to be focused on alternatives of artistic closed lips, curved downward as if in enforced or
expression. resigned silence. Both motifs recur in Sees It
Sometime later in the year, Klee made the Coming (fig. 21), another of the historic draw¬
"concept X" the theme of a major painting with ings. Waving off whatever it is with no recogniz¬
the confrontational title Struck from the List (fig. able gesture of his amorphous hands, the man
19). In 1908, he had discarded an attempt to in this drawing of 1933 turns away as in Struck
paint a watercolor self-portrait by penning two from the List, his eyes and mouth likewise firmly
diagonals across the face (fig. 20). In the paint¬ closed. However, in contrast to the reckless self-
ing of 1933, the crossing-out itself becomes the assurance of the published self-portrait Absorp¬
central motif of a finished picture. As a sign, the tion, this clandestine depiction of an anony¬
crossed diagonals relate to the title of the paint¬ mous man turning away from historical reality

Fig. 19. Paul Klee. Struck from the List (Von der Fig. 20. Paul Klee. Self-Portrait (reverse of Asternam
Liste gestrichen), 1933 / 424 (G 4). Oil color on Fenster, 1908 / 68], Private collection, Switzerland
transparent waxed paper, 9'/2 x 8'/2in.(24 x 21.5
cm). Private collection, Switzerland
no longer points to any "spiritual" alternative. consciousness of European culture, resulting in
The closed eyes denote the opposite of what the a political confrontation. As a decree by Her¬
title says, in a seemingly deliberate counterpoint mann Goring of August 3, 1937, initiated the
that can only have been meant to be bitterly comprehensive confiscation of modern art
satirical. works in all public collections of Germany, the
What did Klee himself "see coming" through¬ international modernist art world began to
out the year 1933? The historical record sug¬ launch express challenges to Fascism.
gests that his attitude was indecisive, that he During the Weimar Republic, modernist art
was swept along and into exile by the tide of had by and large ascended to cultural su¬
events. In a letter to Grohmann of December 3, premacy, but it did so at the price of exacerbat¬
1933, less than three weeks before his emigra¬ ing art-political controversies. Still, when in 1933
tion, Klee reflected on "how much has hap¬ the National Socialist government swiftly sub¬
pened in the negative realm for both of us. jected modernist work to political suppression,
Could that be of any consolation to you? I don't many German modern artists were taken by
know. After all, even now one can still discern surprise, as they had not conceived of their work
nothing definitive, since the new has just as political in nature. It was only in 1937, when
started. Perhaps a year from now?"107 The gen¬ the government presented the exhibition De¬
eralities in which Klee expressed himself com¬ generate Art, a definitive survey of its political
pound the uncertainty of his perspective on the charges against what it called "art bolshevism,"
future. There is no word on the political circum¬ that even modern artists in exile were unable to
stances of the "negative realm." The closed eyes ignore the political confrontation into which
are an accurate metaphor for such an attitude. they had been forced, particularly since some of
The minimal certainty they assert, the only one the most salient political connotations ascribed
self-reflection can provide, is stated by way of to modern art works in the exhibition could not
deliberate paradox. Thus in the drawing whose be denied.
*•« *: v*<j * _
title proclaims Target Recognized (fig. 22), the The political program of the exhibition was
man to whom the target is being pointed out summarized in the official brochure: Fig. 21. Paul Klee Sees It Coming (Sieht es kommen),
likewise has his eyes closed. He points his What does the exhibition "Degenerate Art" want? 1933 387 (E 7). Pencil on paper, 1614 x 11%in.(41.5
weapon in the direction indicated by the man It wants to expose the common root of political x 29.5 cm). Private collection, Switzerland
towering over him from behind. He is not aim¬ anarchy and cultural anarchy, and to unmask the de¬
ing, since he cannot recognize the target by generation of art as art bolshevism in the full sense of
the word.
himself. The pointing man who orders him to fire
It wants to clarify the ideological, political, racial,
blindly is actually raising his arm in the Hitler and moral goals and purposes pursued by the driving
salute. For the man with the weapon to close his forces of disintegration.109
eyes to such a gesture may signify either blind
The program's anti-Communist emphasis tied in
obedience or refusal. The drawing is suggestive
with the confrontation course of German for¬
of the political indecisiveness with which Klee
eign policy vis-a-vis the Soviet Union at that
was facing the end of his career in Germany.
time.
In the exhibition Degenerate Art, Klee was
represented by seventeen works: five paintings,
nine watercolors, and three prints.' 0 The extent
of his previous official acceptance was revealed
when the ensuing confiscations of modern art in
German public collections and museums un¬
1937: Klee in the Exhibition earthed no less than 102 of his works. In the
topical arrangement of the show, his works
Degenerate Art
were classified under the categories "confusion"
and "insanity." The painting Swamp Legend was Fig 22. Paul Klee. Target Recognized (Ziel erkannt),
In the summer of 1937, Klee's prominence as an 1933 350. Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
hung on a wall devoted to Dadaism.Party
artist condemned by the National Socialist gov¬ 9% x 10% in. (24.4 x 27.5 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern,
officials must have read its title as an involuntary Paul Klee Stiftung
ernment was confirmed for all to see. On July
confession by the painter that he indeed came
26, the First Great German Art Exhibition
from the "art swamp," that his art belonged to
opened in Munich, to be followed a day later by
what they denounced as "swamp culture " In the
the exhibition Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst).
official guidebook (fig. 23), Klee's lithograph The
This counterpointed, double presentation sig¬
Saint of the Inner Light was juxtaposed with a
naled the enforced triumph of a new, officially
picture by a schizophrenic patient and accom¬
sanctioned German art over the modernist art
panied by this comment:
sponsored by the Weimar Republic, and the Na¬
tional Socialist suppression of the latter was Two "Saints"!!
The upper one is called The Saint of the Inner Light
brought to a conclusion. A year later. Hitler, ad¬
and is by Paul Klee
dressing the jubilee session of the Reich's Cham¬ The lower one is by a schizophrenic from an asylum.
ber of Art on July 9, 1938, in Munich, charac¬ That this Saint Magdalen with a Child still appears
terized the situation: "So at that time I reached more humanlike than the contraption by Paul Klee,
which claimed to be taken quite seriously, is very
the decision to draw a firm line and to give
telling."2
German art the only possible task: to compel it
to stick to the path that the National Socialist With such associations, Klee was held to the
revolution had assigned to the new life of Ger¬ ambivalent analogy between modern art and
many.''108 By the enforcement of this policy, the insanity that, since the late nineteenth century,
two alternat ve concepts of art polarized the had been both a conventional reproach of anti-
 modernist critics and a modernist ideal of sheet after another drops to the floor just as in old
cultural renewal. Klee himself had subscribed to times. And yet he is still not completely cured, is con¬
stantly being checked by the doctor. He is reading
its modernist usage in his review for the Swiss
[Ignazio) Silone, Fontamara."6
;*ei HeiU«e !! magazine Die Alpen of the double exhibition of
,e* •’" ... Di.
ni. H«l-
Hel
ob.« ** uni the Neue Kunstlervereinigung Munchen and its To determine the various concerns that
rotn lnn p,ul Kl*«-
nmt P\t,ronU «° offshoot, the Blaue Reiter, held at the Thann- prompted Klee's precipitous, determined start
unt«re ' .neti »“*
hauser gallery, Munich, in December 1911: "For of a new and lasting "period" in his art, and that
« irrenan''*'' mltKln<l'
|eiU4«M»*<i'*menWhen»h“-
there are still primordial origins of art, as you gave it the form it took, would be a complex
MO* ala iM M*a«»
Kl«. *" would rather find them in the ethnographic mu¬ task. That he was reading the most celebrated
*?a.r .«•« **nrTu. anti-Fascist novel of the day, written by a promi¬
seum or at home in the nursery. . . . Parallel
phenomena are the drawings of the insane, and nent writer who had espoused the Popular

thus madness is no appropriate invective Front, cannot be without significance. In any

[against the 'new aspirations'] either."113 event, Klee was launching his new work into a

Thus, in presenting Klee's picture in the ex¬ modernist art scene aroused at last by the politi¬

hibition guide, the National Socialists were not cal events that had affected him. Reacting to the
£tbia *•'
gratuitously attacking his artistic position. The public suppression of modern art by the German
s-S?2»ss2 picture was reproduced next to a quotation government, international critics who sup¬

£££ from Wieland Herzfelde's article "Ethics of In¬ ported modern art began to voice increasingly

SjxSSggs sanity" restating the modernist acclamation of

insanity as a call to freedom: "The crazy talk of
outspoken attacks on National Socialist art pol¬
icies. The spectacular exhibition Degenerate Art
lEtfSJ-
the possessed is a higher world wisdom because drew most of their attention away from the

it is human. . . . Why haven't we won as yet this concurrent, steadier, and therefore less dramatic
v'r“U*„LA« «"'“**•
.kar-la"_,

insight into the world of the free will?"114 The suppression of modern art in the Soviet Union.

article had appeared in DieAktion in April 1914. The ensuing political one-sidedness of their re¬

At the outbreak of World War I, this journal, sponse suited the Popular Front policies of nu¬

edited by the left-wing writer Franz Pfemfert, merous German left-wing intellectuals and art¬
Fig. 23. Page from Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst)
exhibition brochure, Munich, 1937. Top, Klee's Saint of had taken a resolute, albeit muffled, antiwar ists, who from their exile in France and England
the Inner Light took the lead in reasserting the cause of modern
stand. Faced with the threat of censorship,
Pfemfert had chosen to express his political op¬ German culture against Hitler.

position by the seemingly detached editorial The new anti-Fascist thrust of modern art was

policy of steadily reproducing works of modern promoted by Christian Zervos, editor of the

art, particularly from enemy countries, thus French art journal Cahiers d'Art, which featured

making them the medium for a silent reasser¬ the artists of the School of Paris, as well as Klee

tion of his internationalist and pacifist convic¬ and other foreign artists represented by Kahn-

tions. Herzfelde had been even more deliberate. weiler. In the last issue of 1936 and the first of

Not content with the limitations of modernist 1937, which came out in March or April, before

cultural opposition, in 1918 he became first a the exhibitions in Munich opened, Zervos had
denounced the suppression of modern art in
member of the Dadaist protest movement and
Germany in an article entitled "Reflections on
then of the Communist party. Klee, for his part,
had participated in Dada exhibitions since 1917. the Third Reich's Effort at a Directed Aesthet¬

Thus, the political context in which his picture ics."117 Contrary to what this title might have led

was placed by the National Socialist art officials one to expect, the article offered no polemical
account of National Socialist art but a defense of
was quite accurate. They were purposefully
harking back to the political radicalization of the modernist tradition against what Zervos per¬

modern art in World War I and its aftermath, ceived to be the fundamental charges raised
against it by the German art administration. He
conveniently ignoring the fact that after the
countered by maintaining that whatever is artis¬
consolidation of the Weimar Republic around
tic or poetic was not to be measured by social
1924, many modern artists, Klee among them,
and political concerns, at least for the present
had largely abandoned their initial radicalism to
time. He exalted modern artists over the non-
the extent that they came to be integrated into
artistic public as initiates whose individual imag¬
Weimar culture. It was Weimar culture as a
inations could not as a matter of principle be
whole that was now being held to the revolu¬
judged by social and political criteria. Negative,
tionary political rhetoric of its beginnings.
destructive qualities prevailed in this concept of
the avant-garde. Zervos claimed the artist's pre¬
rogative was to take nothing for granted, to
Modern Art Turns Anti-Fascist
challenge all values, to leave all certainty behind,
to move to ever newer, uncharted territories.
It is not known what news Klee received in Bern
These claims amounted in effect to a subversive
about the Munich exhibitions of 1937, and if
ideal, proffered with a remarkable uncertainty
any, how he reacted;115 but the exhibitions coin¬
about the contribution of modern art to con¬
cide with a time of renewed, intensive working
temporary culture, compared to the assurance
effort in spite of his frail health. Lily Klee's first
of the earlier modern tradition, where artists
report of the sudden resurgence of Klee's pro¬
such as Kandinsky, Marinetti, and Malevich, on
ductivity after his partial recovery from his se¬
the printed pages of their categoric texts, had
vere illness, a resurgence that was to last until
laid claim to a new vision of the world, to the
May 1940, almost the very end, is addressed to
inauguration of a new age. For Zervos, on the
Will Grohmann and is dated July 8, 1937:
contrary, every artistic advance since Cubism
[Klee] has once again one of his completely strong
creative epochs. A "drawing period" also occurs. At entailed doubt and risk. He championed a chal¬
night he sits at his desk till eleven o'clock, and one lenge of the modernist destructive mentality
 Fig. 24. Paul Klee. Revolution of the Viaduct (Revolution des Viaduktes), 1937 / 153
(R 13). Oil on canvas, 235/s x 195/s in. (60 x 50 cm). Kunsthalle, Hamburg, West
Germany

against a host of conservative calls for a recon¬ In Zervos's vindication of modern art, such
solidation of values. ideals were foregone. And yet, in a utopian
The most sensitive political test of this posture projection of avantgardist leadership, he desper¬
was its relationship to the concerns of what ately maintained a revolutionary perspective:
Zervos called "the masses." To do justice to these And we pose the question: shouldn't one constantly
concerns had been the decisive political argu¬ fire up the masses, ceaselessly imbue them with the
ment of both the German and the Soviet total¬ idea of the revolution, an idea which teaches one to be
free of fear, which reenforces the spiritual and social
itarian regimes. Hitler had claimed at the Party
structures, which opens the eyes and sharpens the
rally in September 1933 that now for the first minds on the path toward the unknown? . . . This is
time the people could determine the course of how we conceive of the revolution and how we find
the art produced for them, and since 1932 the relevancy in it.119
guided debates of the Soviet art administration In Zervos's argument, the term revolution,
had focused on the achievement of an art de¬ drained of all political meaning, was assigned to
manded by the proletariat itself. Zervos had the few in order to be dispensed to the masses,
come to accept at face value the National So¬ tacked onto the unspecified claims of the artist
cialist doctrine that the art it promoted was to be the guide on an expedition into the un¬
suited for the masses.118 As a result, his article known. In the next two issues, the editor of
abounded in partly vengeful, partly melancholy Cahiers d'Art presented to his readers the mili-
disnTissals of the people, whom he resolutely tantly anti-Fascist attitude of Picasso, the recog¬
excluded from the values modern art had to nized leader of modern painting. The whole
offer. The separation itself was, of course, a summer issue was devoted to Picasso's Guer¬
notion of the avant-garde, but its resigned ac¬ nica, which had just been put on view in the
ceptance by the editor of the leading Paris art Spanish Pavilion of the Paris World's Fair in order
journal of the day confirmed a general retreat of to decry the German bombing of the Basque
the modernist tradition from the expansive self- town. Zervos poetically evoked Picasso's work¬
confidence with which it had been launched. It ing process on the painting as a spontaneous
was a far cry from earlier expectations that one outburst, an existential political act, a
day abstract art would become an art for every¬ voodoolike, magical attack on Franco.120 The
one, that its immediacy of artistic expression lone artist was charged with providing the his¬
would ensure its eventual embrace by the major¬ toric counterweight to the political disasters
ity. Between 1917 and 1919, that expectation caused by masses and dictators alike. If Klee
had been politically fleshed out in the concept of read the issue, he may have been reminded of
revolutionary art, particularly in the Soviet his own, more tentative reaction to Hitler's as¬
Union. cendancy, in his letter to Will Grohmann of Janu-
 ary 31, 1933.121 There he had projected the his¬ tion of the architecture in anthropomorphic as
toric relevancy of his drawings for a distant well as political terms. "Break Ranks" ("treten
future when Hitler would be long forgotten; aus der Reihe") is an unequivocally military ex¬
now Zervos presented Picasso as engaged in a pression that likens the firm structure of the
similar contest, but one of instant actuality, and bridge to a formation of soldiers. The meaning
with the claim to victory, not just survival. of the term "revolution" is politically both more
A posture such as this made it possible for obvious and more uncertain, given the ide¬
many modern artists to reassert themselves in ological vacillations to which it was being sub¬
anti-Fascist terms without transgressing the jected at this point in Klee's career. For the same
confines of their habitually nonactivist, non¬ reason, the term is all the more conspicuous, as
political culture. Klee, who had been featured in this is its only recurrence in Klee's oeuvre cata¬
the Cahiers d'Art several times in earlier years,122 logue after the lost drawing House Revolution of
and who was well-informed about the Paris ex¬ 1933. And since the picture is the result of care¬
hibitions of 19 3 7,123 joined this movement to fully advanced variations, it suggests that Klee
some extent, adopting the large-formed, was giving a serious review to his lifelong con¬
crypto-mythic figurations advanced by artists cern with the political idea of revolution.
such as Jacques Lipchitz, Andre Masson, Max The two last versions recall the neo-Roman
Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Joan Miro, and Henry arches and viaducts of the new National Socialist
Moore. With these artists, he participated in that architecture, particularly in the bridges of the
Fig. 25. Paul Klee. Arches of the Bridge Break Ranks
(Viaducts Break Ranks) (Bruckenbogen treten aus der new, ambivalent pictorial culture of modernism, widely publicized highway building program
Reihe), 1937 / 111 (P 11). Charcoal on cloth, mounted full of a dark fascination with destiny, which (fig. 26),128 so demonstrably aimed at an
on paper, 163/4 x I6V2 in. (42.6 x 42 cm). The Solo¬ historically coincided with the demise of democ¬ "organic" monumentalization of the German
mon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
racy in Europe, the Great Depression, and the landscape. In Albert Speer's 1936-37 design for
rise of Fascism culminating in the Spanish Civil the German stadium at Nuremberg (fig. 27),129
War. It was not the point of this visual culture to which was meant to hold 400,000 spectators,
devise a modernist political imagery in response the series of steep arches in the exterior wall
to the totalitarian ones advanced by the govern¬ expresses the underlying ideology. The en¬
ments of Germany Italy, and the Soviet Union, closure of these arches was to bring together
particularly at the Paris World's Fair in the sum¬ the mass public in one embracing form; the
mer of 1937. But occasionally during this year, coarse surface of the arches, made up of square,
some artists did come forth with political coun¬ rough-hewn natural stones, suggests the indi¬
terimages for modernism: Lipchitz produced vidual handiwork of innumerable masons. Both
Prometheus; Ernst, The Angel of the Home; and Klee's pictures can be seen as formal reversals of
Marc Chagall, Revolution. Klee, ever intent on this kind of architecture, so expressive of the
keeping abreast of the modernist movement,124 National Socialist ideology of a homogeneous
made his contribution with the painting Revolu¬ people's community.

Fig. 26. Carl Theodor Protzen. Bridge in the Holledau.

tion of the Viaduct. The effect may be caricaturistic, but the for¬
Exhibited 1940. Whereabouts unknown mal procedure Klee applied to it drew on a
serious, central tenet of what he had come to
Revolution of the Viaduct call "pictorial architecture." In an undated addi¬
tion to his Pictorial Form Instruction of 1921-22,
Klee's most protractedly elaborated picture of in the chapter "Subjective Theory of Space: The
1937 is Revolution of the Viaduct (fig. 24). It is Migrating Viewpoint," he had drawn a funda¬
the last version in a sequence of no less than five mental aesthetic distinction between architec¬
on a theme that must have been of particular ture and painting. This distinction derived from
concern to him.125 Yet, even though it is the his concept of a dynamic viewing of the picture,
definitive version, it was never exhibited during whereby the eye is assumed to move along the
Klee's lifetime.126 Its political significance has painted surface and to continually change the
been recognized by a succession of later com¬ perspectival vantage point, as opposed to the
mentators, who have invariably based their in¬ static buildup of architecture in corporeal space.
terpretations on the assumption that the via¬
Conditional and [i.e., versus] free possibility of move¬
duct's breakup by the individual arches going
ment. One may well say, there is no purely dynamic
their own way has a negative meaning, and that architecture, and one must take very seriously here the
they suggest menacing, totalitarian mass move¬ slightest traces that lead beyond. One would have to
ments.127 These commentators show a dis¬ take the appearance for the essence. We must there¬
fore locate works of architecture in the purely static
regard for the political thoughts Klee himself
realm and in a static realm which inclines more or less
might have intended to express at this particular toward the dynamic. Thus at best: in the static-
moment, based on the history of the term revo¬ dynamic intermediate realm.
lution as he himself had reflected upon it over In more ideal realms of art, such as painting, greater
mobility, a real change from the static into the dy¬
the years.
namic, is possible.130
The composition is predicated on the contrast
between the viaduct's horizontal pathway in a Klee's man-centered, individualized principle of
state of breakup, thereby rendering the in¬ a dynamic, variable composition, which had de¬
tended horizontal movement impossible, and termined his concept of "pictorial architecture"
the vertically emphasized depth perspective, in since his first Bauhaus course of 1921, carried
Fig. 27. Albert Speer (1905-1981). Model for stadium which the severed individual arches, seen at vari¬ with it connotations of self-sufficient indepen¬
at Nuremburg, Germany, 1936-37
ous points in space, march forward from the dence.
back of the picture toward the viewer. An earlier
What are we to do? Let us empathize, since we our¬
version is called Arches of the Bridge Break selves are after all buildings which have to stand on
Ranks (fig. 25). Both titles articulate the dissolu¬ little feet and must not fall. What do we do in order
 not to fall? What do we do, if we do not succeed in re¬ conformity, enhanced by their individualized,
establishing stationary calm (in a small way) through a enthusiastic expressions of assent, historically
balancing shift of the weighty parts in ourselves? We obliterates the political distinction between So¬
move first one leg (enlargement of the base) and
cialist and militarist iconography inherent in
perhaps soon afterwards the other. And finally we
walk, which facilitates the balance. We have become a Menzel's and Steinlen's versions of the forward¬
form in movement and we sense an alleviation.131 marching scheme (figs. 6, 7).
If the negative evaluation of the theme of
In Revolution of the Viaduct, it is the application
Klee's picture by most later commentators, who
of this reasoned, humanized, abstract form pro¬
tend to perceive it as an image of totalitarian
cedure that breaks the National Socialist stereo¬
mass movements, were based on images such
type. The uniform size of individual arches re¬
as these, that interpretation would be at vari¬
quired for the construction of a bridge is
ance with the concurrent notion of architecture
chahged here to individual differences ranging
as a consolidating force in National Socialist as
from large to small, increasing the depth per¬
well as Soviet ideology. Klee's conservative inter¬
spective as well as indicating that each one of Fig. 28. Max Lingner (1888-1959). May 7, 1935. Pub¬
preters cannot have it both ways. An interpreta¬ lished in Arbeiter-lllustrierte Zeitung, 1935
the presumed members of the bridge is
tion of the picture in terms of totalitarianism is
unique.132
inappropriate, for in the totalitarian "aesthet-
The composition is grounded in the tradi¬
icization of politics," as Walter Benjamin called it
tional iconography of the mass of workers
in 19 3 5,133 the masses' conformity with archi¬
marching frontally out of the picture, which
tecture is fundamental. Hence the care with
twenty-four years earlier Klee had adapted to
which Klee individualized each one of the arches
the avant-garde in his satirical drawing Bellig¬
in size, proportion, perspectival projection, and
erent Tribe (fig. 3). There is even an intriguing
position in space, carries the force of contradic¬
similarity to the viaduct on which the African
tion to the totalitarian scheme. No doubt the
mock revolution takes place in Heines Sim-
satirical mode in which the picture is bound to
plicissimus caricature (fig. 4), Klee's source for
be read adds to this sense of contradiction, true
the earlier drawing. The iconographical ped¬
to the original, historic satirical intent of Klee's
igree of the composition thus confirms the polit¬
works from 1905, when he was confronted with
ical poignancy of its title. It is as if Klee had
a revolution for the first time. The political sig¬
energized his visual memory of those "workers
nificance of the picture appears to correspond
. . . sleeping in rows, partly sitting upright, re¬
to Zervos's defiant definition of the revolutionary
calling the revolution," recorded in his letter to
calling of the artistic avant-garde in the name of
Lily Klee from Paris thirty-two years before. But
its subversive cultural potential, rather than to Fig. 29. B. Jofan. Mural, entrance hall of Soviet Pavil¬
what was the meaning of Revolution of the
the ideal of the Popular Front promoted in Ling- ion, Paris Worlds Fair, 1937
Viaduct in 1937, given the ideological uncer¬
ner's drawing. Nevertheless, in devising the im¬
tainty of the term revolution at this point in
age, Klee was reclaiming the term from the
Klee's career? As recently as 1935, the iconog¬
National Socialist ideology to which he had
raphy of Steinlen's title page for the Interna¬
ceded it in 1933.
tionale had been adopted by the German-Com¬
munist artist in exile Max Lingner, working in
Paris, in his brush drawing May 1, 1935 (fig. 28)
for the Arbeiter-lllustrierte Zeitung, suggesting 1939: The Failed Application for
the new Communist strategy of the Popular Citizenship
Front. Yet Klee's well-tested historic caution did
notallow him such an unequivocal expression of After Revolution of the Viaduct, the term revolu¬
a political allegiance; the theme had already tion never recurred in the titles of Klee's works.
become visually compromised two years after And in his deposition before the Swiss immigra¬
the inauguration of the Popular Front. For in tion authorities of July 1939, he finally adopted
Paris in 1937, the scheme of the forward-march¬ the meaning of the term as it was appropriated
ing masses as the carriers of revolution had been by the National Socialists. This represented no
adapted—or perverted—to the notion of Sta¬ change of heart. It was prompted by political
linist conformity in Jofan's Soviet Pavilion at the circumstances, for in his chosen country of exile,
World's Fair (fig. 29). In the painting for the the original significance of the term revolution
entrance hall, the representatives of Soviet so¬ continued to be held against him.
ciety in festive dress appear to march forward in Klee had been born in Switzerland, but as the
a perspectivally staggered parade formation on son of a German subject, he was a German
an axis between the projected Palace of the national. Thus he returned to Switzerland in
Soviets, with its giant painted statue of Lenin in 1933 as a foreign immigrant. He had not been
the background and the actual statue of Stalin stripped of his German citizenship, unlike those
placed before the canvas, as if to suggest that artists such as George Grosz who had been
58 the figures are following him to the point of openly critical of the regime.134 Klee soon ap¬
marching out of the picture. Outside, the ex¬ plied for Swiss citizenship, but his application
pressive forward thrust of Jofan's architecture was rejected135 on the grounds of the so-called
was personified in an extended relief covering Berlin Agreement of May 4, 1933, which stipu¬ Fig. 30. B. Jofan. Relief, Soviet Pavilion, Paris World's
the entire socle (fig. 30) and displaying the So¬ lated that German citizens were eligible to re¬ Fair, 1937
viet people moving forward with the building, as ceive the Swiss residency permit only after hav¬
it were, tightly packed and framed by protective ing lived in the country "uninterruptedly and
figures of the military. In both relief and paint¬ with permission" for five years. Klee resigned
ing, the advancing masses are being led rather himself to waiting out this period, and in due
than marching spontaneously. Their totalitarian time charged his lawyer, Fritz Trussel of Bern, to
reapply for the Federal permit, which he did on 'beyond the tangible,' that his views are some¬
April 24, 1939.136 On July 11, 1939, Klee was what on the left, and that hence his art is evalu¬
called in and interviewed. On this occasion, he ated as 'degenerate.' "142
made the deposition cited earlier: "The sever¬ By paraphrasing Klee's well-known sentence:
ance of my civil service contract at Dusseldorf "From this side I cannot be grasped at all," from
took place because of the German Revolution. Zahn's monograph of 1920,143 the evaluator
Since I had nothing more to expect from the avoided taking a position on National Socialist
German state, I felt free of any ties to this state cultural politics one way or the other. However,
and entitled to a break of these relations."137 the charge of decadence was soon advanced
Klee was finally ready to give over the term against Klee by the Swiss authorities themselves.
revolution to the National Socialist dictatorship. In three secret reports—dated October 31, No¬
In an irony of history, however, the original leftist vember 4, and November 9, 1939—addressed
significance of the term had hurt his efforts to to the Chief of Police of the Bern Canton (the
establish himself professionally in his country of reports were written in French, although the
exile. In the Swiss art press and public of the official language is German), an unnamed police
thirties, a strongly conservative trend of opinion sergeant presented a dossier based on his own
tended to associate modernist art with leftist interview with the painter, as well as on ample
politics. The cultural pressures the German gov¬ inquiries with others.144 His report was laced
ernment was able to apply abroad—even in with sarcastic, hostile comments, leaving no
peacetime—often found a sympathetic re¬ doubt as to what his own recommendations
sponse, particularly since political accommoda¬ were. After voicing his personal opinion that
tion to the National Socialist state was the an¬ Klee's ever-more bizarre extravagance might
nounced program of the Front, the strong one day push him over the brink of insanity, he
National Socialist party of Switzerland. relayed a judgment on Klee's standing with the
The minority position of modernist art in established art community in Switzerland:
Switzerland was made clear in 1936. It was ex¬ Well-known painters of our country have found Klee's
cluded from the huge National Art Exhibition at new tendency to be harmful to themselves. Should
the Kunstmuseum in Bern from May 17 to July this tendency, thanks to the protection of certain com¬
12,138 thus depriving Klee of the chance to be petent personalities, gain a foothold in our country, it
would be an insult against the true art, a deterioration
seen as a nationally significant painter in his own
of good taste and of the healthy ideas of the popula¬
city. Conversely, in the deliberately oppositional tion.145
show Contemporary Problems in Swiss Painting
The sergeant further registered the opinion that
and Sculpture, held concurrently at the
Kunsthaus Zurich from June 13 to July 22, he Klee's art was being promoted by Jewish dealers
for nothing but financial gain.
was prominently billed, along with Arp and Le
Corbusier, as one of three leading international In spite of these reports, Federal approval of
Klee's application for citizenship was granted on
figures among Swiss painters of the avant-
December 19, 1939, one day after the artist's
garde.139 There was obvious political irony in the
sixtieth birthday. The next phase in the proce¬
way the Luzerner Nachrichten characterized
dure was to obtain the approval of citizenship by
both exhibitions:
the Community of Bern. Klee applied for it on
On June 13 the Kunsthaus Zurich opened an exhibition
January 15, 1940.146 After additional inquiries,
which was to assemble those young forces who had
no business at the "National" at Bern. As everybody
Klee's case was placed for final disposition on
knows, the "National" places in the foreground the the agenda of the Municipal Council meeting of
most salient Swiss characteristic, a sense of reality. July 5, 1940. But since he died one week before
Dreamers such as the surrealists and constructors such
that date, his case was not acted upon.147
as the adherents of abstract art were "left to the left."
Now the Zurich exhibition has assembled into one
front these "left" ones, these revolutionaries of art.140

The "confrontation" between traditional and Conclusion

modernist art in Switzerland, in which Klee had
been firmly locked into the latter side, became It remains an open question whether Revolution
increasingly obdurate in the following years. of the Viaduct was merely a transitory reasser¬
Typically, the art critic of L'Observateur de Ge¬ tion of the claims of modernity prompted by the
neve of Septembers, 1937, wrote in a report political confrontation of the arts in the wake of
about Picasso's Guernica: "The partisans of the the exhibitions of 1937. It also remains an open
artistic revolution prepare the political revolu¬ question to what extent Klee participated in the
tion."141 general shift from confrontation to indecision
In this situation, the Security and Criminal and from indecision to pessimism that can be
Police Divisions of Bern subjected Klee's applica¬ observed in the anti-Fascist cultural community
tion for citizenship to a stringent assessment of in Western Europe in the last two years before
the cultural and political significance of his art. the outbreak of World War II. In the end, the
They obtained an evaluation from the curator of discrepancy between the picture of 1937 and
the Kunstmuseum Bern, Conrad von Mandach, the deposition of 1939 may simply testify to the
who defended Klee before the Swiss authorities discrepancy between artistic aspirations and po¬
against the charges that had led to his dismissal litical reality that no twentieth-century artist was
in Germany: "The reason that he is no longer spared who, like Klee, attempted to relate the
recognized in Germany is that his painting lies two.
 1917- 1925 {Ann Arbor, 1979). witzig wirken."

Notes 6. K. D.Bracher, Zeit der Ideologien: Eine Geschichte

politischen Denkens im 20. Jahrhundert
(Darmstadt, 1982), pp. 82, 90, 127-28, 130, 171,
19. H. Gute, A. Th. Steinlens Vermachtnis (Berlin,
1954), p. 139.
20. P D. Cate and Susan Gill, Theophile-Alexandre
I wish to thank Charles Haxthausen, Keith Holz, John 173; for the Weimar Republic: A. Mohler, Die Steinlen (Salt Lake City, 1982), p. 46, colorplate 5.
Hutton, Wolfgang Kersten, Barbara McCloskey, Fran¬ Konservative Revolution in Deutschland 21. Ibid., p. 70.
ces Pohl, Nancy Troy, and Joan Weinstein for their 1918- 1932: Ein Handbuch, 2d, enlarged ed. 22. For the connection, see Haxthausen 1981, pp.
critical readings of this essay before publication; their (Darmstadt, 1972). 105-06.
suggestions have led to numerous corrections and 7. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 290, to Lily Stumpf, December 9, 23. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 507, to Lily Stumpf, Paris, June 9,
additions. Some sections of parts II and III were pub¬ 1902: "Wir haben auch schone Kalte. Bloesch 1905: "Ein ander Mai kamen wir gegen Morgen
lished in a less developed form in my exhibition catalog friert in Paris bis Ende Dezember, wo arme Teufel durch die Hallen und sahen Huren mit ihren Man-
Paul Klee in Exile 1933-1940 (Tokyo, 1985). mit leerem Magen vor Kalte auf der Strasse liegen nern Seil springen, man dachte ans Rokoko. An
geblieben sein sollen. Man soli uber nichts klagen. der Wand aber schliefen in Reihen, zum Teil
Frequently Cited Works Eure Volksvorstellungen im Hoftheater haben aufrecht sitzend, die Arbeiter, an die Revolution
gegenwartig wohl nur den einen Sinn, wenn der erinnernd. . . . Von der Menge hat man den
Brenner, Hildegard. Die Kunstpolitik des National- Raum gut geheizt, ist. Das ubrige ist Luxus und Eindruck, dass ihr das einzelne Menschenleben
sozialismus. Reinbek, 1963 kommt in keiner Republik vor, wo man doch de- ganz gleichgultig sei. Es wird so sein, dass ein
Geelhaar, Christian, ed. Paul Klee: Schriften, Rezen- mokratisch denkt. Ich bin nicht demokratisch, solcher Platz auf die Dauer total abstumpft. Denn
sionen und Aufsatze. Cologne, 1976. sondern allgemein revolutionar." uberall zu helfen, wie man sollte, ist unmoglich.
—. "Journal intime oder Autobiographie? Uber 8. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 359, to Lily Stumpf, November 1, Im Winter muss alles noch viel entsetzlicher sein."
Paul Klees Tagebucher," in Das Fruhwerk 1979, pp. 1903. 24. Erich Muhsam, "Revolution," in Revolution, no. 1
246-60 9. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 505, to Lily Stumpf, May 21, (October 1913), p. 2.
Giedion-Welcker, Carola. Paul Klee in Selbstzeug- 1905. 25. Die kranke deutsche Kunst, Auch von einem
nissen und Bilddokumenten. Hamburg, 1961 10. Paul Klee, Supplementary Manuscript (Kunstmu¬ Deutschen (Leipzig, 1911).
Glaesemer, Jurgen. Paul Klee: Die farbigen Werke inn seum, Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung), p. 22: "591 nur 26. Theda Shapiro, Painters and Politics: The Euro¬
Kunstmuseum Bern. Bern, 1976 [added with copy pencil: sehr] mittelbares Inter- pean Avant-Garde and Society, 1900-1925 (New
. Paul Klee Handzeichnungen, I, Kindheit bis esse fur soziale u. politische Fragen." In the tran¬ York, 1976), pp. 117-18.
1920 Bern, 1973 scription of thedigest, which he madeforWilhelm 27. Die Alpen (Bern), no. 6(1912), p. 302, reprinted in
—. Paul Klee Handzeichnungen, II, 1921-1936. Hausenstein a short time later and which served as Geelhaar 1976, pp. 97-98; see also Werckmeister
Bern, 1984 the basis of Hausenstein s book on Klee, the pas¬ 1981, pp. 125-26.
—. Paul Klee Handzeichnungen, III, 1937-1940. sage reads: ". . . nur bedingtes Interesse fur 28. Klee, Briefe, I, pp. 43f., 254, 319, 324, 336, 349,
Bern, 1979 Soziales und Politisches." As Klee was pondering 478.
Grohmann, Will. Paul Klee. Stuttgart, 1954 the exact degree of his interest in politics, he may 29. Simplicissimus, vol. 9, no. 4 (April 19, 1904), p. 31.
Haftmann, Werner. Paul Klee: Wege bildnerischen have inserted "very" before "indirect" into his pri¬ 30. "Es ist hochste Zeit, dass die Regierung mit alter
Denkens. Munich, 1950 vate version in order to reaffirm the sense of artis¬ Macht gegen die Hereros vorgeht, sonst kommen
Haxthausen, Charles Werner. Paul Klee: The Formative tic detachment. die schwarzen Bestien schliesslich noch nach
Years. New York and London, 1981 [dissertation of 11. Haxthausen 1981, pp. 103ff., is the first author to Deutschland und heben bei uns die Sklaverei auf."
1976, published with new introduction] have documented and discussed these political 31. The scheme occurs in Giuseppe Pellizza's The
Huggler, Max. Paul Klee: Die Malerei als Blick in den leanings. Fourth Estate, 1896-1901, Municipal Art Gallery,
Kosmos. Frauenfeld and Stuttgart, 1969 12. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 476, to Lily Stumpf, January 31, Milan (Arts Magazine [New York], vol. 53, no. 5
Kehrli, J. 0. Weshalb Paul Klees Wunsch, als Schweizer 1905: "Gestern war bei Lotmars die Rede von [1978-79], p. 134) and its model, Giuseppe Pri-
Burgerzusterben, nicht erfullt werden konnte (Son- Russland. Den Alten habe ich noch nicht so moli's photograph The Common People's Rally on
derabzug aus dem Kleinen Bund, no. 6 [January 5, aufgeregt gesehn; dabei sah er so prachtvoll aus, the First of May {ibid., p. 135).
1962]). Bern, 1962 dass ich den Verbrechern dankbar sein muss. Ich 32. See illustration for F. Kugler, Geschichte Friedrichs
Klee, Paul. Briefe an die Familie.ed. Felix Klee.2vols. konnte niemals so wild Partei ergreifen; meine Art des Grossen (Leipzig, 1840), in Heidi Ebertshauser,
Cologne, 1979 ist, still lachelnd zuzusehen und wenn auch alles in ed., Adolph von Menzel: Das graphische Werk,
—. Tagebucher von Paul Klee, 1898-1918, ed. die Luft sprange. Am Ende gehore ich auch zu den vol. 1 (Munich, 1976), p. 381: "Preussische Gre-
Felix Klee. Cologne, 1957 Menschen, die mit einem Witz sterben." nadiere marschieren mit Gewehr im Arm"
Paul Klee: Das Fruhwerk 1883-1922, ed. A. Zweite. 13. For Aged Phoenix {Greiser Phoenix), see E. W. 33. Klee, Briefe, I, pp. 371-72, to Lily Stumpf, De¬
Catalog. Munich, 1979 Kornfeld, Paul Klee: Verzeichnis des graphischen cember 12, 1903: "Menzels lllustrationen zum
Werckmeister, 0. K. Versuche uber Paul Klee. Frank¬ Werkes (Bern, 1963), no. 17. It should be pointed 'Zerbrochenen Krug' sind von seinen bedeu-
furt, 1981 out that the translation "Senile Phoenix" fre¬ tendsten Arbelten und uberhaupt die bedeu-
Wulf, J. Die bildenden Kunste im Dritten Reich: Fine quently found in the English literature is mistaken. tendsten lllustrationen, die je gemacht worden
Dokumentation. Gutersloh, 1963 In the German language, greis has no connotation sind. Ich sah sie nur ein Mai und habe mich schon
of mental decrepitude. Its widespread mistransla¬ beeinflussen lassen."
tion may have to do with unconscious biases 34. Cate and Gill 1982 (see n. 20), p. 72, fig. 58.
1. Hans Belting, Das Ende der Kunstgeschichte? against old age prevailing in American culture. 35. Franz Marc, "Die 'Wilden' Deutschlands," Der
(Munich, 1983), p. 22, with references. 14. This interpretation of the etching is part of a pro¬ Blaue /?e/ter (1912; new edition, Munich, 1965);
2. "Sehr geehrter Herr Schafler [s/'c], / Der Aktions- jected work on the Inventions which I have F. Marc, Schriften, ed. Klaus Lankheit (Cologne,
ausschuss revolutionarer Kunstler moge ganz sketched out in a number of public lectures in 1978), p. 142: "In unserer Epoche des grossen
uber meine kunstlerische Kraft verfugen. Dass ich 1984-85 under the title "Klee 1905-1906: From Kampfes urn die neue Kunst streiten wir als
mich dahin zugehorig betrachte ist ja selbstver- Socialism to Socialization." 'Wilde,' nicht Organisierte gegen eine alte,
standlich, da ich doch mehrere Jahre vor dem 15. Haxthausen 1981, p. 108, who, however, fails to organisierte Macht. Der Kampf scheint ungleich;
Krieg schon in der Art produzierte, die jetzt auf mention the February Revolution in Russia as a aber in geistigen Dingen siegt nie die Zahl, son¬
noch breitere offentliche Basis gestellt werden motivating factor in this pessimism. dern die Starke der Ideen. Die gefurchteten Waf-
soil. Mein Werk und meine sonstige kunstlerische 16. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 482, to Lily Stumpf, February 19, fen der 'Wilden' sind ihre neuen Gedanken; sie
Kraft und Erkenntnis stehen zur Verfugung! / Mit 1905: "Ich habe elne Allegorie der Un- toten besser als Stahl und brechen, was fur un-
bestem Gruss / Ihr Klee" Estate of Fritz Schaefler, zulanglichkeit als auferstehender Phoenix: zerbrechlich gait."
Aachen. My thanks go to Justin Hoffmann for bildnerisch sehr originell. Man muss sich zum 36. Before this, Hans Bloesch had reproduced two
bringing this document to my attention. On De¬ Beispiei denken, es sei eben eine Revolution drawings by Klee in an article in Die Alpen of
cember 2, 1918, Klee had already responded to gewesen, man habe die Unzulanglichkeit ver- 1912, and one of his watercolors had been re¬
Schaefler's request to participate in an exhibition brannt, und nun steige sie verjungt aus der produced in the Blaue Reiter of 1911.
at the I. B. Neumann gallery, Berlin; letter in Estate eigenen Asche empor. Das ist mein Glaube. . . 37. "Die Presse und der Herbstsalon," Der Sturm
of Fritz Schaefler, Aachen. There follows an omission in the printed text. (Berlin), vol. 4, no. 182-83 (October 1913), pp.
3. See Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1286, letter to Lily Klee, Bern, 17. Klee, Briefe, I, p. 489, to Lily Stumpf, March 20, 114-15; see p. 115: Leipziger Tageblatt: "Paul
April 25, 1939. 1905: "Greiser Phoenix als Symbol der Un¬ Klee zeigt Zeichnungen, die sich in dem Tiefsinn
4. Kehrli, p. 6: "Die Losung meines Dienstverhalt- zulanglichkeit menschlicher Dinge (auch der der Kinderzeichnungen geschult haben." Berliner
nisses in Dusseldorf erfolgte wegen der deutschen hochsten) in kritischen Zeiten." Haxthausen 1981, Borsencourier: "Paul Klee ist derjenige, der das
Revolution. Da ich vom deutschen Staat nichts pp. 136-37, has traced these comments to a pas¬ Gerucht von den Max- und Moritz-Zeichnungen
mehr zu erwarten hatte, fuhlte ich mich frei von sage in Friedrich Hebbel's diary marked by Klee in verursacht hat."
den Bindungen zu diesem Staat und berechtigt zu his personal copy of the book. 38. Ibid.: Deutsche Tageszeitung: "Hier aber sind die
einem Abbruch dieser Beziehungen." 18. Ibid.: "Die Anschauung des Bildes erklart das Talentlosen in Reih und Glied aufgestellt." Volks-
5. For Germany in particular, see A. C. Greenberg, Beiwort greis als hochst gebrechlich und dem zeitung: "Diese 'Jungsten' sind keine Revolu-
Artists and Revolution: Dada and the Bauhaus: Endenah. . . Hier soil es als verschwiegene Pointe tionare; gereift und abgeklart, aber reichlich ex-
 zentrisch sind die Meisten." ternder Zusammenbruch einer im Grunde sitt 68. Felix Klee, editor's note, Briefe, II, p. 1233.
39. Tagebucher, p. 311, no. 929, spring or summer lichen Bewegung, die aber, im Uberdrang falsch 69. Klee, Briefe, II, p 1233, to Lily Klee, Dusseldorf,
1914:". . . ich weissjasehrwohl, dassdas Gute in einsetzend, sich von Verbrechen nicht rein halten April 3,1933: "Eswarmirmbglich, mit Junghanns
erster Linie bestehen muss, aber doch ohne das konnte." ganz aufrichtig zu sprechen, Ich bin naturlich an
Bose nicht leben kann. Ich wurde also in jedem 52. Ibid.: "So wenig dauerhaft diese kommunistische der Reihe, beurlaubt zu werden; aber er hat noch
Einzelnen die Gewichtsverhaltnisse der beiden Republik von Anfang an schien, so gab sie doch einige Hoffnung, durch eine andere Eingliederung
Teile ordnen, bis zu einem gewissen Grad der Gelegenheit zur Uberprufung der subjektiven Ex meiner Person in den Lehrbetrieb, ohne dass ich in
Ertraglichkeit. Revolution wurde ich nicht dulden, istenzmbglichkeiten in einem solchen Gemein meiner Lehrfreiheit beeintrachtigt werde, Ich bin
wohl aber zu ihrer Zeit selbst machen." wesen, Naturlich eine zugespitzte individu ganz ruhig, nachdem ich Schlimmeres hinter mir
40. The following section is a short summary of chap alistische Kunst ist zum Genuss durch die habe, stelle ich mich auf das Negativste zum
ters 5 and 6 of my forthcoming book, Klee, War, Gesamtheit nicht geeignet, sie ist kapitalistischer Vornherein ein und kann dann Alles abwarten,"
Revolution. Luxus." Wolfgang Kersten has alerted me to the concep
41. Haftmann 1950, pp. 54, 59, omits any mention of 53. Ibid. : see also n. 7, above. tu.il M(]iiiIk .im e ol thin passage
this period; Grohmann 1954, p. 58, passes over it 54. Revolutionary Figurine (1930 / 164), Morton G. 70. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1234, to Lily Klee, April 6, 1933
with the single sentence: "Eine Ruhepause ist Neumann Family Collection, Chicago. Thanks to "Lieber nehme ich Ungemach auf mich, als dass
notig." Neither Giedion Welcker 1961, p. 52, nor Dr Wolfgang Kersten of the Paul Klee Stiftung, ich die tragikomische Figur eines sich urn die
Glaesemer, I, pp. 254ff., deals with the circum Bern, for bringing this drawing to my attention Gunst der Machthaber Bemuhenden darstelle"
stances of Klee's career in 1919. However and for checking the computerized title catalog 71 See drafts in Klee's notebook, Briefe, II, p. 1244.
Glaesemer 1976, pp, 134-35, retrospectively for occurrences of the term. Ignoring this testimony, Glaesemer, II, p. 339, as
touches on 1919 in the chapter on the years 55. Geelhaar 1979, p. 252; Haxthausen 1981, pp. serts: "Klees kompromisslose Haltung [sc. on the
1921-33 but confines himself to the question of Xllff, issue of the Aryan Proof] fuhrte dazu, dass er Ende
whether Klee's letter to Kubin (see below, n. 51) 56. Tagebucher, p. 180, no. 602, March 20, 1905 1933 die unausweichlichen Konsequenzen aus
may have been influenced by the fugitive Ernst "Obwohl Ovid nicht dazu passt, ist dort manches den Gegebenheiten zog und Deutschland ver
Toller. Hubsche uber diesen Vogel zu lesen (Meta¬ liess." Against this statement it must be main
42. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 942, to Lily Klee, October 30, morphose XV 3931). Mir ist lieber, er wird nicht tained that no known testimony suggests that
1918: "Nicht das Volk wird dabei handeln, son- gewaltsam verbrannt, da bin ich mit Ovid eins." Klee emigrated for reasons of political or moral
dern Instrument sein, Wenn es selbst die Sache in 57. Ibid. : "Ohne Tragik ist der Ausdruck auch nicht conscience.
die Hand nimmt, geht es gewohnlich zu, fliesst und der Gedanke, dass dieses Wesen nun bald zur 72. Robert Bfittcher, Kunst und Kunsterziehung im
Blut und wird processiert. Das ware banal." Parthogenese schreiten wird, erbffnet auch keine neuen Reich (Breslau, 1933), p, 59; quoted in Wulf
43. Geelhaar 1979, pp. 246ff, has shown that during heiteren Perspektiven. Der Rhythmus der Un 1963, p. 51.
the years between 1913 and 1921, Klee wrote a zulanglichkeit mit 500jShriger Periodizitat ist eine 73. See Werckmeister 1981, p. 85, with references.
clear copy of three of his four diary notebooks, erhaben-komische Vorstellung." 74. Renbe Marie Parry Hausenstein, London: "1st zur
which encompassed his earliest reflections to 58. Tagebucher, p, 192, no, 650, Paris, June 1905. HSlfte Schweizerin, (Basel) Ihre ubrige Abstam
those from the end of 1915. Only the fourth and "Valse von dem Bal de Nuit: dazu die Atmosphere mung ist nicht vbllig geklart, sie kann uber
last notebook, which covers the time of his mili von faulenden Fischen, Staub, TrSnen, Arbeit, Sudfrankreich orientalisch sein,"
tary service from 1916 to 1918, contains the origi Pferd am Boden, seilspringende Kokotten,, , Die 75. Supplementary Manuscript (see above, n. 10):
nal version of the text. It was spontaneously re Schlafenden an der Wand." "Mem Vater stammt aus Thuringen, meine Mutter
corded with so much intellectual assurance that 59. Greenberg 1979 (see above, n. 5), pp. 17311 ist halt) Franzbsin und halb Schweizerin. Ihre fran
Klee felt he could let it stand, even as he was 60. Barbara M. Lane, Architecture and Politics in Gei zbsische Abstammung ist nicht vbllig geklart, sie
bringing the other three up to the level of articu many, 1918 1945 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, kann uber Sudfrankreich |word cut out from the
late reflection he had finally reached. 1968), pp. 69ff., 117ff„ 162ff. lower margin] sein.
44. Tagebucher, pp. 405-06, no. 1130, October 30, 61. Haftmann 1950, pp. 161 62, and Grohmann 76. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1251
1918: "Wenn aber die Massen aktiv werden, was 1954, pp. 77, 82, do not deal at all with the 77. Brenner 1963, p. 40.
dann? Dann wird es sehr gewohnlich zugehen, es circumstances of Klee's dismissal and emigration. 78. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1241; see also Glaesemer, II, p.
fliesst Blut, und was noch schlimmer ist: es gibt Grohmann (ibid., pp. 28611) does not consider the 338, n. 7.
Prozesse! Wie banal!" year 1933 as a significant period for the artist's 79. Robert Scholz, "Kunstgbtzen sturzeri," Deutsche
45. Curt Corrinth, Potsdamer Platz, oder die Nachte work, and does not mention the group of draw Kultur Wacht, no. 10(1933), p. 5; quoted in Wulf
desneuen Messias: Ekstatische Visionen (Munich, ings discussed below, He says: "Auch der 1963, p. 53.
1919), pp. 3-4. Obergang [sic] von Dusseldorf nach Bern ist also 80. Landesgalerie, Stuttgart, Grohmann Archiv, no,
46. Cosmic Revolutionary (1918/ 181), The Art In kein Einschnitt, die Kunst der letzten Lebensjahre 7B, letter from Lily Klee to Will Grohmann, Oc
stitute of Chicago; see Das Fruhwerk 1979, p, bahnt sich seit 1932 an . , ," (p. 288), Glaesemer tober 22, 1933: "Auch wir tragen uns mit Planen
470, no. 359. Klee cut off a strip of the upper 1976, pp. 306 07, only touches on the year 1933 uns vbllig zu verandern, D(as] Haus konneri wir
border and glued it to part of another drawing to retrospectively in the section on 1934 40; but in ausserordent[lich] kundigen u[nd| wollen ufnd]
form Der Fisch (1918 / 185), Kunstmuseum Bern, 1984, Glaesemer, II, pp, 33711, presents a full, mussen es auch im Laufe d|es| Winters aufgeben.
Paul Klee Stiftung (Glaesemer, I, no. 683). detailed account. Wir gehen dann wo|h]l aufs Land u|nd] stellen
Glaesemer, I, p. 255, misreads the title as 62. Glaesemer, 1976, p. 306, concludes: "Trotz seiner zunachst unsere Mobel ein. Ich wurde Sie Bitten
"komisch-revolutionar" and thus misinterprets it Distanz zum 'Diesseitigen' besass er ein sehr klares noch nicht daruber zu sprechen, da ja von uns
accordingly. Urteil daruber, was von den neuen Machthabern noch nichts unternommen wurde bis jetzt."
47. Glaesemer, I, p. 256, without reference to the und ihren Machenschaften zu erwarten war." This 81. Louise A. Svendsen, Klee at the Guggenheim Mu
earlier version. is not borne out by the evidence, seum (New York, 1977), p, 7
48. See Erste Grosz-Mappe, 1, 5; and Kleine Grosz- 63. Klee, Briefe, II, p, 1225, to Lily Klee, Dessau, Janu 82. "Taschenkalender Paul Klee 1933," in Briefe, II, p.
Mappe, 2, 5,14, in A. Duckers, George Grosz: Das ary 30, 1933: "Dass dem Ganzen je zu helfen sei, 1 740
druckgraphische Werk (Berlin, 1979), pi. 49 55. glaube ich nicht mehr. Das Volk Ist zu ungeeignet 83. Grohmann Archiv, letter from Klee to Grohmann,
The motif refers to Corrinth, p. 58: "D-Zuge don- fur reale Dinge, dumm in dieser Hinsicht," January 31, 1933: "Das Jahr hat eingesetzt mit
nerten, unablassig, Erwachende zum Paradies." 64. Hendrik, "Kunst Sumpf in Westdeutschland: Die neuen Zeichnungen aus unverschamten grad sein
49. See Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Reese Flechtheim-Kaesbach Akademie fur bildende sollenden Limen. Ob ich deswegen jetzt mehr hab
Collection, for the minutes of this session Kunst zu Dusseldorf," Die Rote Erde, Dortmund, Sonne im Herzen fuhle, oder ob ich, weil ich
"Vorschlag: Klee in den Aktionsausschuss February 1, 1933: "Dann halt der grosse Klee m[ehr| h|ab| S|onne| im [drawing of a heart| fuhle,
aufzunehmen, wurde angenommen." My thanks seinen Einzug, beruhmt schon als Lehrer des die Zeichnungen werden?? Eine Aufgabe fur
to Justin Hoffmann for providing me with a copy Bauhauses Dessau, Er erzahlt jedem, er habe ara dummere Kunsthistoriker. Aber wie viel Gluck in
of this document. bisches Vollblut in sich, ist aber typischer ein paar Linien liegen kann, ist schon eine ernstere
50. Huggler 1969, pp. 101, seems to have been the galizischer Jude. Er malt immer toller, er blufft und Frage. / Noch etwas: Unser Hitler!"
only author to have recognized this: "Funf Blatter verblufft, seine Schuler reissen Augen und Maul 84. For some of these drawings, see Glaesemer, II, figs.
des Jahres 1919 geben die Situationen, in denen auf, eine neue, noch unerhbrte Kunst zieht in das 507-20.
der nunmehr Vierzigjahrige sich schaffend, als Rheinland ein." 85. "Schliesse ich denn die Redaktion" is an ironic
Kunstler, mit bosem Spott ironisiert, indem er 65. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1227 reference to "Redaktionsschluss," a journalism
zugleich die schopferische Tatigkeit in ihre ver 66. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1230 term, whose sense is suggested in the free transla
schiedenen Phasen zerlegt. . . ; besondersscharf 67. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1229, to Lily Klee, Dusseldorf, tion.
ist die Ironie uber die Versunkenheit" Huggler, February 9, 1933: ", . . ich lese nach Hannibal 86. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1226, to Lily Klee, January 30,
however, does not so much as touch on the histor jetzt Caesar (im Mommsen) und zugleich Stendhal 1933: "Mit. diesen Bemerkungen schliesse ich
ical situation in which Klee found himself then, 'Napoleon.' Muss mal ein wenig in Gesellschaft denn die Redaction, nur fur Dich das die 6f
51. "Briefe von Paul Klee an Alfred Kubin," in Das solcher Art Genies gehn Macht Freude, dass es fentlichkeit nicht beruhrende Ereigms beifugend,
Fruhwerk 1979, pp. 80 97; see especially p, 93 ausser Hitler und seinen zwei Bandigern noch an dass ich letzte Tage einem gelinden Zeichenrappel
"Es war ein richtiges Trauerspiel, ein erschut- dere Formate gibt." unterlag. Aber das ist so privat in der heutigen
 itischen Grauens: 'Songes et Mensonges' von Grohmann: "Er hat wieder eine seiner ganz
Welt, und wird, wenn es so weitergeht, . . . lang
Picasso." Apparently the author is projecting schopferischen Epochen. Auch eine 'Zeichen-
brauchen, bis es einmal als Culturgeschichte und
back in time the anti-Fascist tendency of some periode' tritt auf. Er sitzt Abends bis 11 Uhr u[nd]
Kunstgeschichte beachtet wird, und bis dann
modernist art around 1937, the date of the Blatt fur Blatt fallt zu Boden wie einst. Seltsam.
vielleicht niemand mehr, ohne im Lexikon
Picasso etching to which she compared Klee's Dabei ist er [inserted: doch] noch [deleted:
nachzuschlagen, sagen kann, wer eigentlich der
hypothetical cycle, but such a tendency is not langst; inserted: immer] nicht wieder ganz ge-
grosse Hitler war. / Dieser letztere Gedankengang
borne out by the record of Klee's life and art in sund, steht dauernd unter arztlicher Kontrolle.
gehort ins Gebiet der scheinbaren Reaction, wel-
1933. . . . 'Er' liest Silone, Fontamara."
che Kunstler manchmal pflegen, um dann in
94. Anna Teut, Architektur im Dritten Reich, 117. Christian Zervos, "Reflexions sur la tentative
posthumen Sprungen dereinst schon allhier zu
1933-1945 (Frankfurt and Berlin, 1967), pp. d'esthetique dirigee du llle Reich," Cahiers d'Art
sein."
140-41. (Paris), 11e annee (1936), pp. 209-12; 12e an¬
87. Klee, Briefe, II, p. 1228, to Lily Klee, Dessau, Febru¬
95. Bruno E. Werner, "Der Aufstieg der Kunst," Deut¬ nee (1937), no. 1-3, pp. 51-61.
ary 5, 1933: "Seit meiner Ruckkehr aus Venedig
sche Allgemeine Zeitung, Berlin, May 12, 1933; 118. Ibid.,
p. 210: "Quelque sincere que puisse etre a
habe ich nicht mehr so gearbeitet wie in den
reprinted in Wulf 1963, pp. 83ff. ses debuts ce regime, il se voit, en course du¬
. beiden Wochen. ... Die Bannung aller Skepsis
96. "Revolution in der bildenden Kunst," reprinted in plication, enferme de toutes parts par les fins
aus diesem Prozess ist von Neuem gegluckt. Dabei
Wulf 1963, pp. 46ff.; K. Wunsche's article, "Karl meme qu'il se propose, et reduit a une concep¬
wird manches frei, was Ballast werden wollte.
Hofer und die neue Kunst," in the Deutsche tion orthodoxe, restrictive, voire oppressive; et
Alles abgeworfen. Da sind einige Zeichnungen,
Kultur-Wacht of July, reprinted ibid., pp. 48ff., cela avec d'autant plus de vigueur qu'il cherche a
die sich ausdrucklich mit Ballastabwerfen be-
also hinges on the term. See also ibid., pp. 74, se faire accepter par les masses et a leur faire
fassen, einigermassen reactive Dinge, aber langst
105. sentir le pouvoir d'appel de ses verites."
nicht mehr von der fruheren drastisch-reactiven
97. Lane 1969 (see above, n. 60), p. 180. 119. Zervos, "Reflexions," p. 61: "Et nous posons la
Art, sondern auch als solcher Charakter sub-
98. Brenner 1963, p. 69. question: ne vaut-il pas mieux relancer constam-
limiert, beziehungsweise raffiniert. 'Impondera¬
99. Alfred Rosenberg, "Der kommende Stil," Volk- mant les masses, leur integrer I'idee de la revolu¬
ble' [Glaesemer, II, no. 514] und 'sozusagen'
ischer Beobachter, July 14, 1933; quoted in Teut tion, sans repit, idee qui desapprend la crainte,
[Glaesemer, II, no. 512] sind hiefur wohl die
1967, p. 90. renforce les assises spirituelles et sociales, ouvre
Hauptbeispiele. . . ."
100. Brenner 1963, p. 70. les yeux, aiguille les esprits sur la voie de I'in-
88. Glaesemer, II, pp. 340-41, makes no chronologi¬
101. As quoted in Wulf 1963, p. 104. connu? . . . C'est ainsi que nous entendons la
cal distinctions between the attitudes expressed in
102. Felix Klee Archive, Bern, draft of letter to Alois revolution et que nous y trouvons matiere d'in-
the three letters and hence believes that all in their
entirety refer to the first group of abstract draw¬ Schardt, December 8, 1933, quoted by teret."
Glaesemer, II, p. 339: "Ich frage: wie wird die 120. Christian Zervos, "Histoire d'un tableau de Picas¬
ings. According to him, the group of some 150
vom Staate protegierte deutsche Kunst aus- so," Cahiers d'Art (Paris), 12e annee, no. 4-5,
drawings, beginning with 1933/N 16, was only
sehn?" (1937), pp. 105-11; see also J. Bergamin, "Le
started in the middle of February. Admittedly
there can be no certainty on this point, but in any 103. Thanks to Dr. Wolfgang Kersten of the Paul Klee Mystere Tremble: Picasso Furioso," ibid., pp.
event the difference of three weeks involved in the Stiftung, Bern, and to Mr. Felix Klee for confirm¬ 135-40.
alternative has to do with the degree of imme¬ ing this information. 121. It is the example of Picasso's political commit¬
104. Werckmeister 1981, pp. 140-41. ment that Carola Giedion-Welcker (see n. 93)
diacy with which historical experience triggered
105. Ibid., pp. 160ff. invokes when she assumes a similar attitude on
Klee's response.
89. Glaesemer, II, pp. 241-42: "Die beiden 106. Jurg Spiller, ed., Paul Klee: Das bildnerische the part of Klee in 1933.
Zeichnungen formulieren einen Zustand fra- Denken, 3d ed. (Basel, 1971; first edition: 1956) 122. Will Grohmann, "Paul Klee," Cahiers d'Art (Pahs),
gender Ungewissheit. . . pp. 55-56, undated lecture text. 3e annee (1928), pp. 295-302; Roger Vitrac, "A
90. The exact date is uncertain; see Glaesemer, II, p. 107. Grohmann Archiv, letter from Klee to propos des oeuvres recentes de Paul Klee,"
435. Grohmann, December 3, 1933: "Ich denke viel Cahiers d'Art, 5e annee (1930), pp. 300-06; H.
91. Alexander Zschokke, "Begegnung mit Paul Klee," an Sie und Ihre Liebe Frau, und wie viel gemein- Schiess, "Notes sur Klee a propos de son exposi¬
Du: Schweizerische Monatszeitschrift, October sames jetzt auf negativem Gebiet sich ereignet tion a la Galerie Simon," Cahiers d'Art, 9e annee
1948, pp. 74-76; idem, in RheinischerAlmanach: hat. / Ob das trostlich fur Sie ist? ich weiss es (1934), pp. 178-84.
Jahrbuch fur Kunst, KulturundLandschaft(1954). nicht. Man kann ja wol auch jetzt noch nichts 123. Grohmann Archiv, no. 57, postcard from Lily
92. Zschokke, ibid., says that the first drawing Klee definitives bemerken, weil Neues erst begonnen Klee to Grohmann, September 27, 1937: "Ein
showed was a "Blatt mit ein paar wenigen hat. Ubers Jahr vielleicht?" Freund von uns sandte uns Bericht aus P[aris]
geraden Bleistiftstrichen" and calls some of the 108. "Mitteilungsblatt der Reichskammer der bil¬ uber die interessanten Kunstausstellungen und
drawings "vollig ungegenstandlich." See Huggler denden Kunste," August 1,1938, p. 1, as quoted sandte uns auch einen Katalog de I'art in¬
in Wulf 1963, p. 379: "So kam ich damals zu ternational] independant. Obwol [sic] mit al-
1969, pp. 144-45.
93. Glaesemer, II, pp. 337ff., published in 1984, dis¬ dem Entschluss, einen harten Strich zu ziehen teren Arbeiten soil 'er' sehr gut ufnd] hervor-
cusses at length the questions of interpretation und der neuen deutschen Kunst die einzig ragend vertreten sein. . . . Der Schweizer
arising from this event. Carola Giedion-Welcker mogliche Aufgabe zu stellen: sie zu zwingen, Pavilion sehr schon u[nd] sachlich."
1961, p. 95, ventured the opinion that the draw¬ den durch die nationalsozialistische Revolution 124. See "Paul Klee: Eine biographische Skizze nach
ings were lost, an assumption refuted by dem neuen deutschen Leben zugewiesenen eigenen Angaben des Kunstlers," Der Ararat
Glaesemer, II, p. 345. She seems to have ascribed Weg ebenfalls einzuhalten." (Munich), no. 1 (1920), second special issue, pp.
the loss to their supposedly aggressive anti-Fas- 109. Fuhrer durch die Ausstellung Entartete Kunst, 1-3; quoted in Geelhaar 1976, p. 139, with
cism: "In his atelier at the outskirts of the city . . . Munich, 1937, pp. 2ff. regard to the years 1913-14: "Mit alien
house searches were getting more and more thor¬ 110. The five paintings were Der goldene Fisch radikalen Kraften Deutschlands und Frankreichs
ough, but what Klee had drawn in those last (Berlin), Um den Fisch (Dresden), Sumpf-Legende in Fuhlung stehend, festigte Klee das eigene
months in Germany . . . with irony, disdain, and (Hanover),Rhythmus der Fenster (Stuttgart), and Wollen."
rage, was never found. . . . As . . . Zschokke . . . Mond uber der Stadt (whereabouts unknown); 125. Felix Klee, "Aufzeichnungen zum Bild 'Revolution
relates, from those apocalyptic drawings there see R O. Rave, Kunstdiktatur im Dritten Reich des Viaductes' von Paul Klee," Jahrbuch der
emanated a demonic spell, such a suggestive radi¬ (Hamburg, 1949), pp. 79-80. Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, vol. 12 (1967),
ance of brutality, crudity, and discomfort, that the 111. Ibid., p. 57, with photographs. pp. 111-20. The five versions are: Unter dem
viewer senses the atmosphere in a direct physical 112. Fuhrer durch die Ausstellung, p. 25. Viaduct(1937/77); Bruckenbogen tretenausder
fashion. To conclude from Klee's art and person¬ 113. Die Alpen (Bern), no. 6 (1912), p. 302, reprinted Reihe (1937/111); Tiere spielen Komodie
ality, this portfolio, missing thus far, must have in Geelhaar 1976, pp. 97-98: "Es gibt namlich (1937/112); Selfsame Jagd (1937/152); Revolu¬
been a counterpart to that other modern repre¬ auch noch Uranfange von Kunst, wie man sie tion des Viaductes, first state (1937/153), en¬
sentation of political horror: 'Dream and Lie [of eher im ethnographischen Museum findet oder titled, according to W. Ueberwasser, in "Paul
Franco]' by Picasso." ("In seinem Atelier am Stadt- daheim in der Kinderstube. . . . Parallele Klees grosses Spatwerk," Werk, no. 52 (1965), p.
rand . . . begannen die Haussuchungen immer Erscheinungen sind die Zeichnungen 460: Abwanderung der Bruckenbogen; and ac¬
intensiver zu werden, aber das, was Klee in jenen Geisteskranker, und es ist also auch Verrucktheit cording to Felix Klee, p. 120, Abwandernde
letzten deutschen . . . Monaten mit Ironie, Ab- kein treffendes Schimpfwort." Bruckenbogen. Felix Klee, p. 118, fig. 8, pub¬
scheu und Zorn gezeichnet hatte, fand man nicht. 114. Die Aktion, 1914. lished a photograph that he took of this first
. . . Wie . . .Zschokke . . . berichtet, ging von 115. Grohmann 1954, p. 87, maintains with regard to state before the painting was completed, but
diesen apokalyptischen Zeichnungen eine the exhibition: "Klee beruhren diese Dinge kaum does not say whether the title was conceived by
damonische Zauberkraft aus, ein so suggestiver noch, er hatte es nicht anders erwartet und ist his father and then changed.
Strahl von Brutalitat, Roheit und Unbehagen, froh, in Bern geborgen zu sein." This is consistent 126. Dr. Wolfgang Kersten of the Paul Klee Stiftung
dass der Beschauer die Atmosphare direkt kor- with his disregard for the Klees' historical situa¬ Bern, has kindly verified that the painting was
perlich spurte. Nach Klees Kunst und Person- tion in 1919 (see n. 41) and 1933 (see n. 61), first seen publicly in the memorial exhibition at
lichkeit zu schliessen, muss diese Mappe, die bis where the evidence, unlike 1937, proves him the Kunsthalle Bern, November 9-December 8,
heute verschollen ist, ein Gegenstuck gewesen wrong. 1940, when it was offered for sale at 1,500 Swiss
seinzujener anderen modernen Darstellung pol- 116. Grohmann Archiv, no. 53, letter from Lily Klee to francs.
127. Haftmann 1950, p. 170: "Threat has vanquished dass er mit Revolution des Viaductes ein Sinnbild Kohorten' kann dabei keine Rede sein; schon gar
wit, the parable points to the times. It was in geschaffen hat, das hellsichtig die historische nicht, wenn just ein zitronengelber Kopfloser
1937 that the picture was painted, just as was Situation in eben dem Jahre 1937 darstellt: dem braunen Nachbarn das Bein stellt
Picasso's 'Guernica'; the bombs were dropping spanischer Burgerkrieg, Hohepunkt Mussolinis, Beinstellen wahrend des Jagens nach Erfolg hat
on Spain. That was the year when men and Pakt mit Hitler, bevorstehender [?!] Anschluss uberhaupt das Verhalten der verschiedenen Par-
women who had not fallen for the lie of political Osterreichs und des Sudetenlandes.") tikularen, die in jedem Augenblick zu 'Konkur-
concepts were feeling the powerlessness to Felix Klee 1967 (see above, n. 125), p. 120: renten' werden, bestimmt. . . . Damals brach in
counteract the resounding rebellion of the ma¬ "The revolution appears to be victorious. For Klee die Einsicht durch, dass selbst die Viadukte
chinery of civilization. Fate urged enactment. Or¬ how long? But the individual is not viable in the grosser menschheitlicher Planung zu Dienern
ders that had been joined together were step¬ long run, and its existence will be meaningless. ubelster geschaftlicher Konkurrenz entwurdigt
ping out of line. Things of a technique which had The departing single arch of a bridge is headless wurden. Konkurrenz auf alien und jedem
become unbridled were approaching in an anni¬ and thoughtless, deprived of its function. . . . Gebiete [sic] sei zum entscheidenden Merkmal
hilating manner, in order to trample into ruins a However, the macabre footstep of such an ab¬ der menschlichen Gesellschaft geworden,'') The
world grown ripe." surd creature is impressing the others and is author hence perceives the architectural integ¬
("Die Drohung hat den Witz besiegt, das gaining followers. The movement which steps rity of the viaduct as morally positive. Needless to
Gleichnis deutet in die Zeit. 1937 ist das Bild out of line is to be absolutely equated with a say, there is not a trace of evidence to the effect
gemalt, wie Picassos "Guernica,' die Bomben human revolution." that Klee at this time was concerned with a
fielen auf Spanien. Das war das Jahr, in dem die ("Die Revolution scheint zu siegen. Wie lange critique of capitalist competition.
Menschen, die der Luge der politischen Begriffe wohl? Doch das Individuum ist auf die Dauer 133. Walter Benjamin, "Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter
nicht verfallen waren, die Ohnmacht fuhlten, nicht lebensfahig, und sein Dasein wird sinnlos seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit" (1935),
dem drohnenden Aufstand der Zivilisa- sein. Der einzelne abwandernde Bruckenbogen in Gesammelte Schriften, vol. 1. (Frankfurt,
tionsmaschinerie entgegenzuwirken. Das ist kopf- und gedankenlos, seiner Funktion 1974), pp. 469, 508.
Schicksal drang auf Vollzug. Die gefugten Ord- beraubt. . . . Aber der makabre Fusstritt eines 134. The following account is derived from the apolo-
nungen traten aus der Reihe. Die Dinge der solch absurden Wesens imponiert den anderen getical pamphlet by Kehrli 1962, with additional
zugellos gewordenen Technik ruckten vernich- und gewinnt Anhanger. Die aus der Reihe tre- documentation.
tend an, urn eine reif gewordene Welt in Trum- tende Bewegung ist mit einer menschlichen Rev¬ 135. Letter from Klee to the Municipal Immigration
mer zu stampfen.") olution absolut gleichzusetzen.") Commission of Bern, June 28,1939, inanswerto
Grohmann 1954, p. 318: "The bridge-men Kunstim3.
128. G. Bussmann, ed., exhibition catalog the question why he applied as late as that: "In
end at the level of their hips; they have neither Reich: Dokumente der Unterwerfung, 5th ed. Beantwortung Ihres geschatzten Schreibens
heads nortorsoes, are nothing but marchers; it is (Frankfurt, 1976; first edition: 1975), p. 83, figs. teile ich Ihnen mit, dass ich nach meiner Rukkehr
not excluded that Klee had been thinking of 48, 49. in die Schweiz die verschiedensten Versuche
contemporary Germany." 129. K. Arndt, G. F. Koch, and L. 0. Larsson, Albert gemacht habe, mein Einburgerungsgesuch in
("Die Brucken-Manner horen in der Hohe der Speer: Architektur (Berlin, 1978), pp. 18ff. die Wege zu leiten. Es wurde aber
Hufte auf, haben weder Kopf noch Oberkorper, 130. This passage does not appear in the original zuruckgewiesen. Die Niederlassung erhielt ich im
sind Marschierer und nichts als dies; nicht aus- manuscript (as published in Paul Klee: Beitrage Mai 1939. Von diesem Zeitpunkt an beauftragte
geschlossen, dass Klee dabei an das damalige zur bildnerischen Formlehre, ed. Jurgen ich Herrn Fursprech Dr. Fritz Trussel mit der
Deutschland gedacht hat") Glaesemer [Basel and Stuttgart, 1979]), but it is Einreichung meines Einburgerungsgesuches."
Georg Schmidt, Die Malerei in Deutschland reproduced in Spiller 1956 (see above, n. 106), Kehrli 1962, p. 11.
7978-7955(Konigstein i. T., 1960), p. 45, speaks p. 187: "Bedingte und freie Bewegungs- 136. See Briefe, II, p. 1286, letter from Klee to Lily
of "resounding brown cohorts" ("drohnenden moglichkeit. Man kann wohl sagen, eine rein Klee, Bern, April 25, 1939.
braunen Kohorten") who evoke a "nightmare of dynamische Architektur gibt es nicht, und man 137. Kehrli 1962, p. 6.
violence inescapably striding toward us" ("Angst- muss hier die leisesten nach jenseits fuhrenden 138. W. Hugelshofer, "Zur 'Schweizer Kunst' der
traum unausweichlich auf uns zuschreitender Zuge wichtig nehmen. Man musste den Schein Zwischenkriegszeit," in exhibition catalog Dreis-
Gewalttat"). fur das Wesen nehmen. . . . siger Jahre in der Schweiz: Ein Jahrzehnt im
R. Linnenkamp, s. v. "Klee," Kindlers Lexikon "Wir mussen daher architektonische Werke Widerspruch (Zurich, 1982), p. 314.
der Malerei, vol. 3 (Zurich, 1966), p. 634: "The auf das rein statische Gebiet und auf ein statis- 139. S. Giedion, in preface to catalog, p. 7; re¬
function of the viaduct is to connect. Its mem¬ ches Gebiet, das sich dem Dynamischen mehr produced in exhibition catalog 1936-Eine
bers necessarily belong together: at the moment oderwenigerzuneigt, verlegen. Also hochstens: Konfrontation (Aarau, 1981), p. 23.
when they revolt they break that order which auf das statisch-dynamische Zwischengebiet. 140. Luzerner Nachrichten, no. 140, June 16, 1936:
gives them meaning in the first place. Already Auf mehr ideellen Gebieten der Kunst, wie Mal¬ quoted in 1936-Eine Konfrontation, p. 33: "Am
the failure of one single element is sufficient to erei, ist naturlich die grossere Beweglichkeit, ein 13. Juni hat das Kunsthaus Zurich eine Aus-
disable and to hopelessly corrupt the whole.. . . richtiger Wechsel vom Statischen ins Dyna¬ stellung eroffnet, die jene jungen Krafte zusam-
There is no return any more; for the mass of mische, moglich." menfassen sollte, die an der 'Nationalen' in Bern
followers blocks up any retreat. This beginning 131. Klee, Beitrage zur bildnerischen Formlehre, p. nichts zu suchen hatten. Bekanntlich stellt die
includes its end by force of law." 63: "Was tun? Fuhlen wir uns ein, die wir doch 'Nationale' die hervorstechendste schwei-
("Die Funktion des Viaduktes ist Verbindung. selber Gebaudesind, die auf kleinem Fuss stehen zerische Eigenart, den Wirklichkeitssinn, in den
Seine Glieder gehoren notwendig zusammen; in mussen und nicht fallen durfen. Was tun wir, urn Vordergrund. Traumer wie die Surrealisten und
dem Augenblick, wo sie revoltieren, brechen sie nicht zu fallen? Was tun wir, wenn es nicht Konstrukteure wie die Anhanger der abstrakten
jene Ordnung, die ihnen uberhaupt erst Sinn gelang, durch abwagendes Verschieben der Kunst liess sie links liegen. Diese 'linksliegenden',
Gibt. Schon das Versagen eines einzigen Be- Gewichtsteile in uns (im Kleinen) die statische diese Revolutionare der Kunst, hat nun die
standteiles genugt, urn das Ganze grundsatzlich Ruhe herzustellen? Wir bewegen zunachst ein Zurcher Ausstellung zu einer Front versammelt."
zu entmachten und hoffnungslos zu korrum- Bein (Vergrosserung der Basis) und vielleicht bald 141. Quoted in Ein Jahrzehnt im Widerspruch (see
pieren. . . . Es gibt keine Umkehr mehr; denn darauf das andere. Und schliesslich gehen wir, n. 138), p. 68: "les partisans de la revolution
jeglichen Ruckzug verbaut die Masse der das erleichtert den Ausgleich. Wir wurden be- artistique preparent la revolution politique."
Gefolgschaft. Dieser Anfang beschliesst wegte Form und empfanden eine Erleichterung." 142. Kehrli 1962, p. 7: "Dass er in Deutschland nicht
gesetzmassig sein Ende in sich") 132. Ueberwasser 1965 (see n. 125), p. 460, who mehr anerkannt sei, habe seinen Grund darin,
Huggler 1969, pp. 166 ff.: "Grohmann is de¬ offers a nonscholarly explication of some of weil seine Malerei 'jenseits des Fassbaren' liege,
scribing aptly, ... yet his conclusion 'it is not Klee's late paintings, derives from this observa¬ er etwas links eingestellt sei und deswegen seine
excluded that Klee had been thinking of contem¬ tion an ideological conclusion of his own, in Kunst als 'entartet' taxiert werde."
porary Germany' remains insufficient. After express contradiction to the interpretations of 143. Leopold Zahn, Paul Klee: Leben, Werk, Geist
what has been stated thus far about the artist's the forward movement in terms of total¬ (Potsdam, 1920), p. 5.
interest in contemporary events there can be no itarianism quoted above (n. 127): "There can be 144. Quoted by Meta La Roche, in "Die Schweiz, Jean
doubt that with Revolution of the Viaduct he has no question of 'brown cohorts'; even less so Arp, Paul Klee und ein geheimer Polizeirapport,"
created a symbol which clear-sightedly repre¬ since it is just a lemon-colored headless man who St. Galler Tagblatt, July 13, 1957.
sents the historical situation in just that year is tripping his brown neighbor. The wish to trip 145. Ibid.: "Bekannte Maler unseres Landes fanden
1937: Spanish Civil War, Mussolini's apogee and others in the pursuit of success has generally Klees neue Richtung fur sich selbst unheilvoll.
pact with Hitler, imminent [?!] annexation of determined the behavior of the various individu¬ Sollte sie dank der Protektion gewisser zustan-
Austria and the Sudeten country." als who at any moment become competitors. diger Personlichkeiten in unserem Lande Fuss
("Grohmann beschreibt treffend, . . . doch ... At that time the insight broke through in fassen, ware dies eine Beleidigung gegen die
bleibt seine Folgerung, 'nicht ausgeschlossen, Klee that even the viaducts of great planning for wirkliche Kunst, eine Verschlechterung des
dass Klee dabei an das damalige Deutschland humanity were being degraded into servants of. guten Geschmacks und der gesunden Ideen der
gedacht hat' unzulanglich. Nach den bisherigen the vilest business competition. Competition in Bevolkerung."
Feststellungen uber die Teilnahme des Kunstlers each and every realm had become the decisive 146. Kehrli 1962, p. 9.
am Zeitgeschehen kann nicht zweifelhaft sein, hallmark of human society." ("Von 'braunen 147. Kehrli 1962, pp. 9f.
 Klee and
German
Romanticism
jOrgen glaesemer

Ingres is said to have given order to repose, I want to happens around him in the spheres of art, pol¬
go beyond emotion to give order to movement. The itics, and society. 0. K. Werckmeister's attempts
new romanticism.
to demystify Klee are among the most suc¬
Diaries, no. 941, 1914
cessful and stimulating of these investigations;
One leaves the realm of the here and now and instead they have brought us to a new critical under¬
builds a realm beyond, which can be total affirmation. standing of Klee as an artist fully conscious of
Abstraction.
reality. These "securely" documented, and thus
The cool romanticism of this style without pathos is
apparently irrefutable, investigations of Klee's
unheard of. The more terrifying this world (as it cer¬
tainly is today), the more abstract the art, whereas a political and economic actions and of his
happy world brings forth an art of the here and now. thought nevertheless also hold the danger of
Diaries, no. 951, 1914 forcing an understanding of the man and his art
into a narrow ideological scheme.

Such vehement gestures point clearly to the dimen¬

Klee's primary aim in all his art was to commu¬
sion of style. Here the distinctively crass emotional nicate, with every pictorial means at his disposal,
phase of romanticism comes to life. the expression of movement—movement in the
This gesture wants desperately to get away from the creation of form and in the idea and content of a
earth; the next one manages to rise above it. It rises
picture—and to elicit movement in the reac¬
under the dictate of buoyancy, which triumphs over
gravity. tions of the viewer. This concept, which was the
If I finally let these earth-defying forces swing es¬ basis of all his artistic thought and deeds, is
pecially far, up to the cosmic realm, I will get beyond scarcely conceivable without a romantic, ide¬
the oppressive emotional style to that Romanticism
alistic point of view. We cannot follow this think¬
which unfolds in the All.
The static and dynamic parts of the pictorial me¬
ing of Klee's unless we are prepared to see the
chanics thus coincide very nicely with the opposition work of art, both conceptually and in its appeal
of classic and romantic. to the senses, as an organically evolved whole
Jena, January 26, 1924 and a reflection of natural creation and of life in
all its complexity. "I want to go beyond emotion
to give order to movement. The new roman¬
ticism," wrote Klee, as he sketched out his pro¬
gram in his diary in 1914.2
If today Klee's art is still capable of "moving"
us, despite its decided introversion, we cannot
credit this solely to the documentary evidence of
In the vast literature on Klee, there is scarcely a his ties to reality. In the present phase of our
writer who has not at least touched on the con¬ understanding of Klee, there is a particular
nections between the artist and romanticism. need, it seems to me, for a positive account of
Surprisingly, however, a full study of the subject the spiritual aspects of his thought and activity, 65
has yet to be written.1 which will act as a counterweight to the impor¬
Younger scholars who have worked on Klee tant but one-sided investigations based on so¬
since the seventies have, in contrast to their cial and ideological critiques. A valid answer to
predecessors of Will Grohmann's generation, the questions concerning the essence of his art
sought to ground their studies of Klee, both as cannot be obtained from a single approach, but
an artist and a man, in documented fact. The lies at best—in accordance with the romantic
Klee who stands in the foreground of these idea of vital, all-encompassing movement—
studies is the disguised realist, who, with the somewhere within the different, constantly
calculation of a bookkeeper, observes all that changing opinions of it.
German Romanticism signifies far more than a the twentieth century, especially during and im¬
historical style dating from about 1800: it is the mediately after World War I. After all, to with¬
expression of a Weltanschauung, one that draw as far as possible from the bitter realities
survives today, constantly balancing between an instead of facing up to them is not an uncom¬
expansive optimism and a sense of defeat. To mon tendency of a socially privileged class in
attempt to convey an idea of the nature and times of great crisis. It would not be difficult to
meaning of romanticism to someone un¬ document Klee's "romantic" style as at heart a
prepared to enter into areas of perception shrewd, deliberate response to contemporary
beyond the limits of what can be grasped by conditions in the art market and to the demands
reason alone is futile—as hopeless as trying to of his potential clientele, which came primarily
explain the expressive and communicative pos¬ from well-situated middle-class circles. Like
sibilities of music to a person who is tone deaf many of his contemporaries in Germany in the
and unreceptive to it. first decades of the twentieth century, Klee
If for various readily understandable reasons seems to have aimed (on the pretext of creating
one resists coming to terms with the express a so-called avant-garde romanticism) at devising
element of romanticism in Klee's work, then it signals for a mode of communication meant to
does not seem altogether out of place to try to be understood only by a narrow circle of initiates
expose his definition of "cool romanticism," a and to serve their culture of sensibility.
name he himself gave his style in a deliberate
effort at self-revelation. Let us for the sake of Such an argument cannot be refuted merely
argument assume this case, which cannot be by counterarguments. The position one takes
ignored in examining Klee as a romantic: must be based on a thorough investigation of
With all those fairy-tale scenes, the moon¬ what Klee defined as his romantic style within
light, sensitive flowers, animals, children, ge¬ the context of his view of life as a whole. The
niuses, and angels in his pictures, Klee was above argument is presented as an open ques¬
merely responding to a sentimental, romantic tion in opposition to the following deliberations,
culture of sensibility found increasingly among and the reader is invited to decide between
intellectuals and aesthetes at the beginning of them.

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Fig. 1. Diesseitig bin ich gar nicht fassbar. . . ("I am not at all graspable in this world. . ."). Holograph text by Klee
in Der Ararat (Munich), 2d special issue (1920), p. 20, catalog of Klee exhibition, Galerie Goltz, Munich

When Klee defined his style as "cool roman¬ curs in this well-known aphorism:

ticism" in 1914, he was obviously not only talk¬ I am not at all graspable in this world. For I live as much
ing about the romantic motifs of his pictures. with the dead as with the unborn. Somewhat closer to
the heart of creation than usual. But not nearly dose
Like all German Romantics, he was concerned,
enough.
in a much more complex context, with an indi¬ Does warmth emanate from me? Coolness?
vidual view of the world. His most programmatic Beyond all ardor there is nothing to discuss. I am most
formulation of his ideas in existential terms oc¬ devout when I am furthest away. In this world some-
 times a little malicious about the misfortune of others. Fog{ca. 1818; fig. 2)—a typical work of German
These are merely nuances. The priests just aren't de¬ Romanticism—seems to have nothing in com¬
vout enough to see it. And they are a bit offended,
mon with Klee's watercolor Mural from the Tem¬
these authorities on Scripture.
ple of Longing *• Over There * (1922; fig. 3).
This passage does not appear in Klee's diaries; Surprisingly, in his many writings Klee makes
he published it in 1920 in Ararat, a journal put not a single reference to Friedrich. He mentions
out by the Galerie Goltz of Munich on the occa¬ Philipp Otto Runge, Friedrich's contemporary,
sion of Klee's first, large one-man show. Re¬ only once—in his Bauhaus lectures—and then
produced in the journal in facsimile (fig. 1), this only as a theorist and author of the color wheel.
handwritten passage has the unmistakable look None of this means, of course, that Klee's pic¬
of a program. torial language does not show a profound rela¬
The question inevitably arises of whether this tionship to the great works of Romantic paint¬
programmatic utterance in Klee's handwriting in ing—even if he never saw an original by
what served as the catalog of his exhibition does Friedrich or Runge, which is scarcely likely.
not simply conceal an attitude: that of an artist Klee's composition is a complicated, restless
who allowed himself the complete luxury, even construction with lines that seem to have been
during the upheavals of war, revolution, and drawn with a ruler and compass. The objects in
inflation, of indulging his private imagination; Friedrich's picture, instead, are immediately rec¬
who, in his extreme individualism, guarded him¬ ognizable; a title is not even necessary. A man,
self as far as possible against active participation seen from the back, stands like a monument
in collective events; but who nevertheless—as atop a cliff. He gazes out over a mountain land¬
Klee demonstrably did—always kept sight of scape covered by a sea of fog, which stretches
the realities and their importance for his career. out before him as far as the horizon. The dark
Is it, after all, such a luxury to get as far away silhouette of the figure, like a paper cutout,
as possible from active participation in everyday stands in marked contrast to the light back¬
events, and to barricade oneself in isolation ground.
within oneself, if in the process one keeps an eye If we ask ourselves what idea is being ex¬
trained sharply, as Klee did, on the events of this pressed, the two pictures begin to look remark¬
world? To approach an answer, we must first ask ably similar. Friedrich places his wanderer monu¬
what Klee really meant when he wrote that he mentally in the center of the picture. He stands
was "not at all graspable in this world," what at the point where the various horizontal and
there is in this attitude that can be called roman¬ diagonal axes intersect. All parts of the composi¬
tic, and what the consequences were for him as tion come to focus on this wanderer who, with
a person and for his work. his back to the viewer, has turned away from the
outside world. We, the viewers, thus become
A comparison of two pictures will clarify, for a unobserved observers—not very different from
start, where the perceptions of the romantics of a psychiatrist standing behind a patient on the
about 1800 touch those of Klee. At first glance, couch. If we are willing to continue this game of
Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer over a Sea of role-playing, we will ask ourselves what the per-

Fig. 2. Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Wanderer

over a Sea of Fog, ca. 1818. Oil on canvas, 37% x 29%
in. (94.8 x 74.8 cm). Kunsthalle, Flamburg, West
Germany

Fig. 3. Paul Klee (1879-1940). Mural from the Temple of Longing ^ Over There * (Wandbild aus dem Tempel
der Sehnsucht dorthin *), 1922 / 30. Watercolor and transfer drawing on gessoed cloth, 10% x 14% in.
(26.9 x 37.5 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984
ceptions and feelings of the figure might be; we my contention that his watercolor is intended to
will try to enter into the experience that moves make the very same point as Friedrich's painting.
this wanderer as he looks over the broad, fog¬ Its poetically heightened title, Mural from the

bound landscape. Temple of Longing K Over There " , informs us

Friedrich's setting of the scene, with its central that a temple has been dedicated to longing—

figure seen from the back, corresponds to Klee's that typically German Romantic leitmotif.

invitation to the viewer to find the intended Sehnsucht (longing) is the driving force behind
meaning in his language of geometric ciphers German Romanticism, forging the bond be¬

and symbols. Klee's titles are the necessary vehi¬ tween the opposite poles of earthly constraint

cle of this meaning, and they are therefore an and cosmic freedom of unrestricted movement.

inseparable part of his representation, like the It is a feeling, an urge—equally alluring and

caption under a cartoon, which delivers the tormenting—for imagined, neither clearly de¬

point of the joke. The title of the watercolor is fined nor physically realizable goals; what is de¬

Mural from the Temple of Longing KOver sired is inherently unattainable.

There" . To be absolutely sure that no one will Klee's arrows symbolize thoughts and feelings

misunderstand, Klee adds two arrows—a pe¬ filled with longing. They move weightlessly and

dantic little joke—to serve as quotation marks unimpeded ’sover there" toward the infinity

around the last part of the title. of the stars. On April 3, 1922—about the same

Friedrich's wanderer gazes at nature, which time as he was working on the watercolor—

spreads out before him in the form of a sea of Klee presented his thoughts on the symbolism

fog, just as it might have looked on the first day of the arrow to his students at the Bauhaus. The

of creation. He stands transfixed by the infi¬ passage reads like a subtle analysis of the ro¬

niteness of nature; but his desire to become part mantic experience of life as an oscillation be¬

of that infinitude goes against reality. The wan¬ tween the poles of ascent and fall:
derer remains prudently at the edge of the The father of every force of movement or projectile,
abyss, his two legs and a walking stick in solid and hence of the arrow, was the thought: how can I
contact with the ground. His thoughts and feel¬ extend my reach over there? Beyond this stream, this
ings are thus in opposition to his physical exis¬ lake? beyond this mountain? —* over there? . . ./The
father is totally spirit, totally idea; in other words,
tence, just as the dark, corporeal foreground is
totally thought. . . . / Man's ability to traverse the
in contrast to the light, ethereal expanse of the earthly and the supernatural in spirit as opposed to his
landscape. physical impotence is the original human tragedy. The
Students of Friedrich have assumed that in tragedy of spirituality. /The consequence of this simul¬
taneous impotence of body and mobility of spirit is the
this statuelike figure of the wanderer the painter
dichotomy of human existence. Half captive, half
is paying homage to a friend who died in the winged, each part becomes aware of the tragedy of its
Freiheitskriege, the German Wars of Liberation incompleteness through recognition of its part¬
of 1813—15.3 The political background of the ner. . . . / Thought as medium between earth and
painting is not unimportant to our understand¬ cosmos. / Tragedy. Yet it is already constituted in the
fact that there is a starting point, in the need to break
ing of the development of German Romanticism
the bonds of constraint, to become movement and
as a whole. The conclusion of the wars of inde¬ not yet to be movement. So the tragedy already exists
pendence from Napoleonic rule at the 1814-15 at the beginning. . . . / In parentheses: create so that
Congress of Vienna destroyed the hopes of the you may hit the mark, so that you may head towards
something, even if you should tire and not arrive any¬
romantics for revolutionary change in Germany
where!4
and for the realization of their intellectual and
political ideals. It put the final seal on the roman¬ Even if we set aside the particular view of the
tic dilemma of powerlessness. world Klee was trying to convey, we must nev¬
What does all this have to do with Klee? It is ertheless recognize his great talent for making

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Fig. 4. Paul Klee. Wirstehen aufrecht. . . ("We stand erect. . ."), Braunschweig, October 1,1923. Entry in guest
book of collector Otto Ralfs, Braunschweig, Germany. India ink and pen on paper, 3V2 x 6 in. (9.5 x 14.7 cm)
 complex intellectual relationships visible to the of the many levels of meaning addressed in it.
senses by the astonishingly simple means of Klee conceals the tragic disjunction in life behind
signs or images. Those students in his Bauhaus intellectual constructions. But now we also gain
classes who were able to analyze his lectures a certain insight into what he meant when he
critically obtained a method of pictorial think¬ said that he is "not graspable in this world," and
ing, of reflective seeing, capable of being used in in what way he covered up this attitude with his
a great variety of ways. This thoroughly roman¬ "abstract" pictorial language.
tic method is the really original and creative It might be objected that Klee did not experi¬
dimension of Klee's art, one which has made ence any such tragic disjunctions but only spoke
him a central figure in the art of the twentieth about them. It is true that conclusive proof of his
century and still very much alive today. sincerity, in the sense of a congruity between his
To return once more to the watercolor: we experience and his artistically shaped content, is
possess a commentary on it that Klee himself difficult to find in his early and middle periods
wrote in its owners guest book (fig. 4). Dated before 1933. But his late work provides that
"Braunschweig, October 1, 1923," it summa¬ proof. Without the heightened, almost ob¬
rizes in a few sentences the basic elements of sessive, production of his last four years, from
the artists romantic view of the world. This care¬ the onset of his illness in 1936 to his death in
fully written and illustrated text was meant to 1940, and without the new, undisguised hu¬
explain Mural from the Temple of Longing manity of his late pictures, his life's work would
^ Over There * .5 appear in a very different light. His final pictures
Klee begins by drawing perpendicular lines and drawings make it clear that Klee's disen¬
and adding the words: "We stand erect and gagement from the world was in no way a flight
rooted in the earth." Does this not at once recall from reality but was rather a distancing from it.8
Fig. 5. Paul Klee. Outbreak of Fear III (Angstausbruch
Caspar David Friedrichs Wanderer over a Sea of In many of his late works in which the figure
III), 1939 / 124 (M 4). Watercolor over egg ground on
paper, mounted on cardboard, 25 x 18% in. (63.5 x Fogl Friedrich's figure is the very epitome of appears, such as Outbreak of Fear III (1939; fig.
48.1 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung erect stance in Klee's sense. In the language of 5), he succeeds in expressing the threat and
Temple of Longing, that figure is replaced by despair occasioned by his own impending death
perpendicular lines, the lower ends of which are even while preserving the dispassionate com¬
"rooted in the earth" by broad bands of shadow. posure he had cultivated from early on. Angel,
Next, Klee draws a small pendulum with this Still Female (1939; fig. 6) is another easily read
explanation: "Currents move us lightly back and example. With one eye the angel gazes upward
forth." Elsewhere he called this second stage in the direction of heaven; with the other it
"dynamic reflection." By this he meant that our glances suspiciously at what is left of its breasts,
freedom of movement in the physical realm of all that remains of its former sexual existence on
earth is an inhibited dynamic and a mere reflec¬ earth as it goes on its way ^over there^ . In
tion of free movement. FHeinrich von Kleist's es¬ pictures such as these, Klee still found enough
say on the marionette theater deals with the humor to caricature his dying only a few months
same subject.6 Klee illustrates his ideas with the before his death.
example of the pendulum. Because of gravity its With his concept of "cool romanticism,"
every swing is opposed by a counterswing, and therefore, Klee marked out a personal position
it is forced to return to a static condition of rest. with respect both to real life and to the form of
In keeping with his remarks, the vertical lines in his art. From this calculated position, from the
Temple of Longing seem to move gently back prospect afforded by distance, he tried with
and forth.7 "cool" observation to come to terms with ro¬
Finally, Klee explains his drawing of a curved mantic longing as well as with earthly experi¬
line, an arrow, and a circle symbolizing the stars: ences and feelings.
"The only free longing is the longing to go over Klee was not only a thinker and theorist, he
there: to moons and suns." Fie alludes to the was above all a creative artist. In fact, even the
many circular signs he inserted time and again in physical properties of his paintings and draw¬
the upper parts of his pictures to symbolize the ings bear the clear, identifying marks of roman¬
cosmic regions of "moons and suns." The motif ticism. The role played by drawing as the chief
runs through all his work. It appeals to the same bearer of content, for instance, is romantic. And
romantic longing for the infinite that Friedrich so is a preference for small formats. Romantic
visualized as a distant expanse of foggy land¬ artists often specialized in fragments, aph¬
Fig. 6. Paul Klee. Angel, Still Female (Engel, noch scape and that is reflected in the many refer¬ orisms, and short stories; in impromptus and
weiblich), 1939 / 1016 (CD 16). Colored lithographic ences to infinite nature—the "blue flower," the musical aperqusi in sketches, drawings, and
crayon over blue paste on paper, mounted on card¬ cosmos, the stars—found in the German Ro¬ small pictures.
board, 16% x 11% in. (41.7 x 29.4 cm).
mantic poetry of Jean Paul, Ludwig Tieck, Even the infectious playfulness of Klee's work
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Novalis, and Joseph von Eichendorff. is an out-and-out romantic trait. His talent for
The essential difference between Friedrich's discovering new means of expression was not
and Klee's pictures is therefore in their concep¬ merely an end in itself. His constant play with
tual form; the content they convey is similar. new forms and his startling technical experi¬
Klee, in a language of symbols and signals, and ments were a deliberate way of avoiding rigidity
with the help of titles and supplementary expla¬ and overly flat statements and of creating ambi¬
nations, composes a course in the romantic per¬ guity. In short, like all romantics, what he sought
ception of the world and the culture of sen¬ even in his forms was a ceaseless, playful activity
sibility. Yet apart from its numerous subtle and expansion of the mind and not the realiza¬
decorative elements and romantic details (sun, tion of an ideal in the classical sense of physical
moon), the painting lacks a sensuous realization perfection.
Comparison of the romanticism of 1800 with long, personal development in which both indi¬
Klee's in the first half of the twentieth century vidual and external circumstances played their
makes sense only if we grant the concept a part. It began during his childhood in Bern. The
timeless aspect, going beyond its historically lim¬ atmosphere in which Klee grew up was imbued
ited definition. Even today, one can with reason with the late-romantic, Biedermeier culture of
cal! oneself a romantic, whereas it would hardly the Swiss middle class (fig. 7), against whose
be appropriate to describe anyone in our time, narrowness he began to rebel during the time of
without a hint of irony, as a "classicist" com¬ his etched Inventions—that is, between 1902
mitted to the Enlightenment. Classicism is de¬ and 1905. His fatalistic attitude in the struggle
fined by each generation in new terms accord¬ against his domineering father shows clearly
ing to changes in ideology, and is thus as tied to how reluctant he was to free himself from the
historical circumstance as romantic thought, concept of an idyllic bourgeois family life.
sensibility, and action are timeless. During his student days in Munich, Klee wrote
Accordingly, the attempt to define historical romantic poems in the style of folk songs and
Romanticism in the time of profound economic, sent them to his old school friend Hans Bloesch
political, and religious upheaval around 1800 in Bern for criticism. Here is an example of these
can to a degree also provide a basis for under¬ still largely unpublished poems:
standing the romantic view of life in 1914, or I sank down
even today.9 Changes in the religious viewpoint In the arms of a feverish dream,
of the middle class at the end of the eighteenth I kissed you
Down by the willow tree.
century were not the least of the causes of the
Romantic temper and attitude of mind. Experi¬ Wild was my kiss,
ence of and belief in the divine was supplanted And how my temples raced!
by knowledge. Idea and reality were no longer High above
The storm clouds chased.
synonymous, and as a consequence, "direct
communication with heaven" broke down once
Nocturnal sun
and for all. The Romantics, in contrast to the How could such joy be true!
followers of the Enlightenment, experienced the Elisabeth!
decline of faith as a heavy loss. They opposed This piece is meant for you.10

scientific knowledge with the subjectivity of The perfumed eroticism, the romantic surges
human sensibility. The decisive point of depar¬ of emotion and feeling for nature, and the
ture for the romantic view of life is the totality, roguish, ironical ending to the poem are in the
the cosmos, the interrelationship within natural style of the popular German chansons of the
creation. The Romantic seeks to define his indi¬ time—Heinrich Heine is their godfather.
viduality as a living part of the all-encompassing About 1902, after returning from a trip to
system of nature, between the poles of present Rome, Klee made an about-face and confronted
existence and the transcendent. Given the the heritage passed on by his family. He went
changed conditions of their society, the German not to Munich (to say nothing of Paris) but back
Romantics, with their presentiments, their long¬ to the provincial Biedermeier environment of
ings, and their visions, turned permanently in¬ Bern. The shift in his romantic tone is first
ward. The dilemma of powerlessness left a de¬ noticed in his diary:
cisive mark on the character of German "Unfortunately the poetic in me has suffered
Romanticism, on its ironic as well as on its tragic a great change. Tender lyricism has turned to
aspects and forms of expression. bitter satire. I protest. / If only I endure, an impu¬
dent voice in me calls out. For the truth is, the
Klee's concept of romanticism, as he defined it at more I develop, the more brittle the great wide
the outbreak of World War I in terms of a style bourgeois world looks. / Or am I wrong about
and an attitude toward life, was the result of a myself? Then I should never have been born.

Fig. 7 Mathilde, Ida, and Hans Klee, the artist's sister, mother, and father, August 11,1908. Photograph by Paul
Klee. Collection Felix Klee, Bern
 • w *

Fig. 8. Paul Klee. Comedian (Komiker), 1904 / 14.

Etching and aquatint, 6'/i6 x 6% in. (15.3 x 16.8 cm)

Fig. 9. Paul Klee. Hero with the Wing (Held mit dem Flugel), 1905 / 38. Etching, 10 x 6/4 in. (25.4 x 15.9 cm)

And now I can't die either! / Music has often him throughout his life. The longing for a free,
been a comfort and will often be a comfort dynamic movement toward the infinite goes
when necessary."11 counter to reality; the hero's wing has only a
These early statements set forth all the essen¬ limited capacity for flight. Klee commented on
tial motifs of his lifelong disengagement from the etching in his diary: "The hero with the
the "here and now": aloofness from the "great wing. A tragicomic hero, perhaps an antique 71
wide bourgeois world" and an egocentric, "im¬ Don Quixote. . . . This human being, born with
pudent" reference to the "I." His path of revolt only one angel's wing in contrast to divine
led inward. As the Comedian (1904; fig. 8), he beings, staunchly tries to fly. In doing so he
did not strip off the grinning mask with the breaks his arm and leg, but still manages to bear
features of his father but continued to wear it on up under the banner of his idea. It was par¬
his tragically earnest face as protection. And in ticularly important to capture the contrast be¬
his etched Invention Hero with the Wing (1905; ’ tween his monumental, solemn attitude and his
fig. 9), he succeeded in expressing the human already ruined state as a symbol of the tragi¬
condition in a form that would remain valid for comic."12
 The essential traits of Klee's romantic stance
as an artist were thus already defined at the
beginning of the century. The attitude embod¬
ied in the 1905 Hero with the Wing can be
distinguished from Klee's formulation some
twenty years later in Mural from the Temple of
Longing * Over There * by its pathos, which is
retained "tragicomically" in the figure's ruined
condition. What is really new in Klee's definition
around 1914 is not, therefore, the idea of "ro¬
manticism" but the discovery that the pathos of
its -basically tragic mood could be sublimated by
putting it in code. Contemplation of the tragic is
moved to a distance; through "abstraction" the
ruined hero is made into a symbol, a marionette,
a little stick figure, or a nonobjective sign
charged with meaning.
Romantic inwardness was so much a part of
Klee's temperament that it shows even in the
way he carried himself (figs. 10-13). The
dreamy yet penetrating look, the head leaning
pensively on a hand in the manner of Durer's Fig. 11. Paul Klee. Self-Portrait, Full Face, Head Resting
Fig. 10. Paul Klee. Young Man with Pointed Beard,
Melancholia—this is the pose in which he re¬ Resting His Head in His Hand (Junger mannlicher Kopf, in the Hand (Selbstportrait en face in die Hand ge¬
peatedly portrayed himself in the years between in Spitzbart, Hand gestutzt), 1908 / 42. Pencil on pa¬ stutzt), 1909 / 32. Watercolor on paper, 6/2 x 514 in.
1908 and 1911. Sometimes these self-portraits per, 8Vb x 6% in. (22 x 16.9 cm). Private collection, (16.5 x 13.5 cm). Private collection, Switzerland
Switzerland
can be interpreted as the expression of a mo¬
mentary state. In the lithograph Absorption
(1919; fig. 14), however, inwardness becomes
his very trademark. It is a self-caricature, both
ironic and earnest: as if to say, I am Buddha.
Absorption is an artistic construction as well as a
mask and an identity. That sentimental school¬
girls worshiped Klee ecstatically as the
"Bauhaus-Buddha" didn't seem to bother him
(fig. 1 5). To a certain extent a mystical, religious
aftertaste was unavoidable with the form of
inwardness Klee was striving for.
Klee's Weltanschauung took meditative, in¬
ward forms of a sort that today, with the emula¬
tion of Eastern spirituality by a wider public, has
profoundly affected Western culture. The spir¬
itual movements in question have been called
escapist, yet they offer a chance for our Western
civilization to free itself from a blind faith in MUt, "rrt Y\

progress and to turn its gaze instead toward Fig. 12. Paul Klee. Young Man Resting (JungerMann, ausruhend), 1911 / 42.
nature and its cyclical laws. We have disturbed Brush and ink on paper, 5% x 1014 in. (13.8 x 20.2 cm). Private collection,

this complex system of relationships without Switzerland

knowing and comprehending all the ramifica¬

tions, and the more we press forward with de¬
tails the more the whole escapes us in the dis¬
closure of new details.
Klee's attitude toward life and his conception
of art are romantic not only in his absorption as
such. What links him closely to the Romantics of
1800 is his claim to an "inward observation of
objects." As a romantic he wants to bring the
"ego and the object into a resonant relationship
that goes beyond optical foundations." In 1923
he summed up this idea in his essay "Ways of
Nature Study" with a schematic diagram (fig.
16).13 The center and recipient of all impulses
emanating from the earth, the cosmos, and the
object is the artist's "I." By his work he creates, in
resonance with the universe, a "parable of God's
work." In Klee's view, art, as a "parable of cre¬
ation," is itself a rebirth of nature.
The new autonomy of the modern artist, his
godlike self-awareness, begins with the Roman¬
ticism of 1800. However, the ability to "sense the Fig. 13. Klee in his studio, Weimar Bauhaus, 1925. Photograph by Felix Klee
 infinite in appearances" not only leads to soaring
flight but can easily result in conflict with reality.
The romantic longing of Hero with the Wing is
brought up short by external circumstances.
"What was left for the poetic spirit after this
collapse of the outer world?—That into which it
collapsed, the inner." This is how, as early as
1804, the great poet and theorist Jean Paul for¬
mulated the typically German conflict of roman¬
ticism.14
Klee's late painting Intention (1938; fig. 17) is
a good illustration of the deliberate separation
between the internal and external. It has clear
elements of a self-portrait. A contour figure with
head and eye divides the left half of the picture
from the right. In the narrower left-hand part, a
stick figure, dog, tree, and other elements,
painted in a signlike shorthand, are crowded
together "outside" the figure as images of the
external world. The dominant color of this left
side is a dull brown. In the rightfield "inside" the
figure—that is, within the creative realm of
imagining or "intention"—a dynamic play of
nonobjective signs takes place over a lively,
flesh-colored ground.

Fate prescribes different paths for the inwardly

turned romantic: he either runs tragically
aground on the rocks of external reality as a
visionary individualist, or he tries to find a bal¬
ance between poles as a humorist. Klee chose to
look at reality with the abstracting help of
humor, satire, and irony.
In this respect he has a good deal in common
with Jean Paul, who was a peripheral, individu¬
alistic figure from the period of German Roman¬
ticism. Both turned their eyes toward infinity,
but without losing touch with the ground under
their feet. Both were aware of the abyss their
romantic longing opened up before them and
protected themselves against loss of balance by
distancing themselves from this world, yet with¬
out losing sight of it. Both were possessed of a
meticulous sense of order, cataloging their po¬
etic ideas in almost a bureaucratic fashion—
Klee, in his oeuvre catalogue; Jean Paul, with a
box full of slips of paper. Their detachment from
ordinary existence made them both fatalists
and, to the extent that it was possible, farcical
humorists. Jean Paul's comparison of the humor¬
ist with the ancient bird Merops, which flies
backward—that is, with its tail pointed up—
from the lower regions of this world in the direc¬
tion of eternity, so that its gaze from the distance
remains fastened on things below, surely applies
to Klee.
Humor, satire, and caricature are at the very
Fig. 14. Paul Klee. Absorption: Portrait of an Expres¬ heart of romanticism and reach their culmina¬
sionist (Versunkenheit: Bildnis eines Expressionisten), tion in the concept of "romantic irony." Al¬
1919 /113. Lithograph, watercolor additions, 10x7
though the term was already heatedly discussed
in. (25.6 x 18 cm). Private collection, Switzerland
by the Romantics and later was also a subject of
Fig. 15. Ernst Kallai (1880-1954). The Bauhaus
much theoretical discussion, the concept re¬
Buddha: Caricature of Paul Klee, 1930. Pencil and mains slippery and ambiguous. Romantic irony
collage on paper. Whereabouts unknown can be defined as a form of self-knowledge. It
presupposes a cool aloofness to external reality
Fig. 16. Paul Klee. Illustration for "Ways of Nature and the venture of individual intellectual free¬
Study," 1923. Published in Staatliche Bauhaus Weimar
dom. The well-known definitions of romantic
1919-1923 (Weimar and Munich, 1923), p. 25. Pen
and India ink on cardboard, 13% x 8'A in. (34 x 21
irony by Schlegel, Schelling, Tieck, and Novalis
cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung read like subtle descriptions of Klee's conception
 Fig. 17. Paul Klee. Intention (Vorhaben), 1938 / 126 (J 6). Colored paste on newspaper on burlap, 29/2 x 44 in.
(75 x 112 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

of being as free as possible "in the here and wardly turned individual by external things. The
now" without losing sight of either the real or "here and now," tripping along on little legs,
the ideal.'5 It is curious that in the entire liter¬ pursues the figure, which has escaped to the
ature on Klee, scarcely anyone has seriously at¬ right edge of the picture and tries to defend
tempted to define his humor, his satire, and his itself against the onslaught with an exclamation
irony. Yet his art is completely unthinkable with¬ point. In works such as these Klee succeeds,
out them. Grotesquerie, farce, comedy, play¬ with self-irony, in reaching the highest plateau
fulness, and the wittily unfathomable—these of expression in the medium of caricature. Dur¬
are the perspectives through which Klee rela¬ ing his school years, long before his etched In¬
tivized not only the external world but himself ventions, he had already covered the pages of
and his own activity. his books and notebooks from edge to edge
Caricature as a medium is especially suited to with grotesque physiognomies and witty com¬
the formal representation of distanced reflec¬ mentaries (fig. 20). Together with his childhood
tions on reality. It is one of the most important drawings (p. 114), these caricatures contain the
sources of Klee's art, and he directed all his first important traces of his late style.'7
intellectual and creative talent toward shaping Let us once more call to mind the image of the
its compositional principles into a style of his humorist as the strange bird Merops soaring
own. Klee's form of pictorial thinking could not high above, this time reversing the direction of
have been achieved without the particular com¬ his gaze 180 degrees. Only the direction has
bination of visual and linguistic elements car¬ changed, and with the limits of ordinary reality
icature encompassed, image and caption. As a vanished from his sight, his gaze is free to peruse
further attraction, caricature was an altogether the limitless expanse of infinity. This elevated
unacademic genre, the special quality of view of things corresponds, in the realm of artis¬
which—from Hogarth and Goya to Daumier tic creation, to Klee's concept of "abstraction."
and the illustrations in Simplicissimus—lay in When he looks to the beyond, his abstract pro¬
the experimentation it allowed with markedly cedures give rise, on the one hand, to his nonob¬
individual styles of drawing. Klee raised car¬ jective signs, layers of color, and compositions
icature to a broader, higher level of artistic ex¬ with squares (fig. 21). When he looks at the
pression by freeing it from its bondage to a things of this world, on the other hand, his
momentary theme and by giving limitless exten¬ pictorial language remains largely figural (fig.
sion to its pictorial possibilities. Not only his 22). The fact that after 1912-13 Klee's figures
drawings but many of his paintings as well can were all transformed into stick figures, puppets,
be interpreted as subtle caricatures. Thus his or schematic signs is by no means due to a mere
74 Revolution of the Viaduct (1937; fig. 18), with aesthetic play with forms. Behind all those
its headless architectural forms constructed ac¬ beings frozen into marionettes lies Klee's fa¬
cording to geometric rules, unmistakably car¬ talistic conviction that with our human impo¬
icatures mass movements, which Klee com¬ tence (fig. 22) we are unconditionally subject to
ments on without allowing his playful the laws of a higher, cosmically creative force.
expression to spill over into pathos.16 In Every¬ Even in his use of pictorial means, Klee was
thing Comes Running After! (1940; fig. 19), shifting his glance in opposite directions. Color
painted shortly before his death, Klee depicts in for him tends to represent the "abstract," other¬
a caricatural manner like that of Revolution of worldly side of his vision (fig. 21), whereas draw¬
the Viaduct the constraint placed on the in¬ ing is the means of coming to terms with the
 Fig. 18. Paul Klee. Revolution of the Viaduct (Revolution des Viaduktes),
1937 / 153 (R13). Oil on canvas, 23% x 19% in. (60 x 50 cm). Kunsthalle,
Hamburg, West Germany

anecdotal, all-too-human lower levels of this tially the expressive qualities of these poles are
world. distinguished for Klee only by a shift of view
"I am most devout when I am furthest away. In between the distance and the here and now.
this world sometimes a little malicious about the Figures such as Angel, Still Female (fig. 6), which
misfortunes of others. These are merely nu¬ look up with one eye and down with the other,
ances." Devoutness or maliciousness, longing to dwell in Klee's own elevated domain, where
go "over there" or romantic irony, abstraction alone it is possible to look in these opposing
and color, orfigural ciphers and drawing; essen¬ directions.

75

Fig. 19. Paul Klee. Everything Comes Running After! (Alles lauftnachl), 1940 / 325 (G 5). Brush and black paste
over colored-paste ground on paper, mounted on cardboard, 12% x 16% in. (32 x 42.4 cm). Kunstmuseum
Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 He placed himself questioningly as the unifying
B._A, 4 .. .
median between both poles: "The third thing is
to be a modest and uninformed student of the
self, a tiny T."'18
Later he added other concepts to these op¬
posing pairs, the most important of them being
statics in the terrestrial realm and dynamics as
the creative expression of the transcendental.
The stylistic concepts of classicism and roman¬
ticism can also be incorporated into this system
as opposing artistic positions. In his Jena lecture
of 1924, Klee gave a detailed description of how,
in his opinion, the "static and dynamic parts of a
pictorial mechanism" correspond "very nicely to
the classical-romantic antithesis."19
Klee's own definition of his style as "cool ro¬
manticism," a romanticism taking account of
reality and therefore unemotional, tells us no
more than that he was trying to establish a
balance for himself between these—for him—
very real antitheses, knowing that a markedly
Fig. 20. Paul Klee. Caricatures in analytical-geometry dynamic—that is, plainly subjective—roman¬
notebook, 1898. Pen and India ink and pencil, 9 x 714
ticism directed toward the beyond, and musi¬
in. (23 x 18.5 cm). Collection Felix Klee, Bern
cally and intellectually ordered, could only be
realized if it also included, searchingly and with
The tense polar relationship between the levels awareness, its opposite number.
of the here and now and the beyond serves as a
Klee's romantic way of thinking in polarities is
philosophical system determining Klee's entire
distinguished by his refusal to favor one over the
pictorial thought and creation. From his youth
other. He saw the oppositions as parts of an all-
he had as a matter of course defined ap¬
embracing totality, as cooperating to form the
pearances, in both art and life, in terms of polar
source of all creative dynamics. Accordingly, no¬
opposites. In 1902, shortly after his return from
tions such as "good" and "bad" had no moral
Rome, he set down a scheme in his diaries that
value for him but were defined as equivalent
with some variation, though without essential
"forces working together to create the whole."20
change in perspective, would serve as the
It is not difficult to show direct connections be¬
framework for his view of the world until the
tween this concept and the ideas of the Roman¬
end of his life. The poles of the "here and now"
tics, for whom God was "a way of life, not
and the transcendent were further ordered into
merely a state of being," and who therefore
the following pairs of antithetical concepts:
believed that "an essence, namely God, must
Antiquity Christianity necessarily live in the bad as well as in the
Physicality Psyche
good."21 Obviously, the knowledge that op¬
Objective vision Subjective vision
Worldly orientation Spiritual orientation posites are intimately related was not newly dis¬
Architectonic emphasis Musical emphasis covered by the Romantics. In the Taoistic princi-

m/1 ir

Fig. 22. Paul Klee. Human Impotence

Fig. 21. Paul Klee. Fire at Evening (Feuer Abends), 1929 / 95 (S 5). (Menschliche Ohnmacht), 1913 / 35.
Oil on cardboard, 133/s x 133/4 in. (34 x 35 cm). The Museum of Pen and India ink on paper, 7 x 3/2 in.
Modern Art, New York, Mr. and Mrs. Joachim Jean Aberbach (17.8 x 9.9 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern,
Fund Paul Klee Stiftung
pie of yin and yang, the opposition between work reflects an attempt to reveal the rela¬
heaven and earth, light and dark, sun and tionships between the creative, formative im¬
shade, male and female, strong and weak, good pulses of art and those of life, and to direct the
and evil, and other entities is already conceived attention of the viewer from the individual to
not as any kind of dualism but as an explicit the universal, from the particular to the arche¬
pairing in which an implicit unity is constantly typical. Although allusions to, and commen¬
manifest. tary on, the incomprehensible—the transcen¬
We know that for Klee, too, artistic form re¬ dent—constitute an essential part of his art,
sulted from the creative process of revealing the Klee never went so far as to make conjectures
inner laws of nature; hence he called art a "para¬ not derived from tangible reality. Charac¬
ble of creation." This means that he sought not teristically, even his angels remain joined to life,
only to analyze the laws of pictorial form in his beings who owe their identities to the links with
theoretical writings but to work out their inner their former existence. We can only obtain some
relationships as parables for the outer forms of notion of the full meaning of incorporeality, the
nature. To give an example, Klee conceived the void, nothingness, from our concrete impres¬
interrelationship of statics and dynamics as the sions and experiences, as when we see for our¬
basis not only of everything existing in nature selves how the empty space inside a barrel—
between birth and death but also of pictorial that is, the "nonexistent"—makes the object
form. Thus it is that "art makes visible" the cre¬ into a container and thus into something usable.
ative laws hidden behind external appearances. Klee, with his concept of polarity and the
Polarity is Klee's key for deciphering the inner indissoluble bond between art and reality, was
relationships between living reality and the par¬ not the only late romantic among twentieth-
abolical work of art. century artists. The work of Joseph Beuys was
Despite Klee's extreme individualism, all of his also based on a pervasive way of thinking in

Fig. 23a. Joseph Beuys (1921-1986). Vacuum Mass, October 14, 1968. Action: Making of an iron chest in
shape of a cubic half-cross containing 220 lb (100 kg) of fat and 100 bicycle pumps, and the showing of 20-min.
segment of film Eurasia Staff. The action took place between 6 RM. and midnight at Art Intermedia, Cologne.

The action addresses the question of harmonizing universal opposites. Eurasia Staff represents the search for a
resolution of the tension between East and West, a closing of the "circle that connects Europe and Asia and puts
an end to the opposition, the polarity of cultures and political systems." The bicycle pumps and fat symbolize,
respectively, the positive and negative poles; they are united in a box in the form of a cubic half-cross.

Fig.23b. Joseph Beuys .Freedom,Democracy,Socialism, 1974. Blackboard

polarities (fig. 23), and reveals how deeply
rooted Romanticism is even today in the culture
of German-speaking countries. In fact Beuys
drew upon the tradition and philosophy of the
Romantics even more explicitly than did Klee.22
Like Klee, he saw art as a genesis, as the making
visible of a dynamic process. His idea of an all-
powerful creative movement in life and in art
was realized for him in the polar opposites of
warm and cold, liquid and solid, active and pas¬
sive, vacuum and mass, chaos and form. For
Beuys, art and life were even more seamlessly—
and above all more actively—knit together than
they were for Klee. He never stopped arguing—
against all elitist claims—for art as an inte¬
grated, comprehensible part of life. Everyone
was thus an artist for Beuys. His environments,
sculptures, drawings, and his many paintings
covered with writing are nothing else than the
energy of thought translated into form. He was
a romantic utopian of the purest kind.
But the fundamental difference between Klee
and Beuys, manifest in their contrasting social
and political feelings and actions, is just as inter¬
esting. As early as 1921, Wilhelm Hausenstein
noted in his monograph on Klee:

The idea that politics and society were a world unto

themselves, or the basis for everything else, was for¬
eign to him; indeed, antithetical. . . . Moreover, the
collective was set in opposition to the personal: the
personal as nothing less than the readiness to indulge
in every excess of subjectivity, the personal as a de¬
spairing and thus arrogant individuality. All standards
of measurement began beyond the community.23

In contrast with Klee, Beuys always tried to

break down the barriers of exclusive individu¬
alism in his political action as an artist. In this he
clearly resembles the artist whom Ludwig Mar¬
cuse, drawing on comparable examples from
the nineteenth century, defined in his essay "Re-
aktionare und progressive Romantik" as a pro¬
gressive romantic.24
It is clear that in this respect Klee was not
exactly a representative among the artists of his
generation of a revolutionary avant-garde. The
protective framework of middle-class family life
gave him an important social reserve. A biting
caricature of the young Klee family, made in
Munich in 1908 by his friend Ernst Sonderegger
(fig. 24),25 is exceeded in its directness only by
Klee's own caricatures of his wife Lily (figs. 25,
26). The Sonderegger image speaks for itself.
Klee, strutting about arm in arm with his sturdy
wife of two years, striking a pose with his chest
out, utterly preoccupied with himself and his
status as an up-and-coming bourgeois artist,
asks his friend: "Well now—are you drawing Fig. 24. Ernst Sonderegger(1882-1956). Well now—
much from nature?" Still, it was Sonderegger are you drawing much from nature? 1908. Car¬
icature of Paul Klee and family. Pen and India ink and
who wrote the following sincere and admiring
watercolor on paper, 914 x 73/4 in. (24 x 19.7 cm).
remark to Klee in 1931: "Scarcely anyone can
Private collection, Bern
equal you in the way you have gained such a
firm foothold in the transcendental, as if you Fig. 25. Paul Klee. Portrait of Lily, 1908 / 59. Pencil
were standing on the most solid tradition."26 on paper, 8% x 7 in. (22 x 18 cm). Whereabouts
At this point the question forces itself upon unknown

us: whether Klee's single-minded attempts to be

Fig. 26. Paul Klee. Caricature of a Young Woman, in
"not at all comprehensible in this world" were
Simple Contour (Karikatur einer jungen Frau, ein-
not related to deep-seated repressions and an fachste Konturen), 1908 / 40. Pencil on paper, 4Va x
artful method of sublimating his suppressed 41/8 in. (10.5 x 10.4 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul
erotic and sexual fantasies? In a diary entry of Klee Stiftung
 Fig. 27. Paul Klee. Hoffmannesque Scene (Hoffmanneske Szene), 1921 / 123. Color
lithograph, 11 Vs X 8V2 in. (28.3 x 21.6 cm)

1915, he himself made this connection: Even in his daily life, music was for Klee a neces¬

The outward conduct of an artist may reveal much sary element of his well-being. That his wife was
about the character of his work. My schoolmate Haller a trained pianist and that he himself regularly
loved life so passionately that he practically hunted for played music with friends until the end of his life
shattering experiences for fear of missing out on
had a decisive influence on his romantic attitude
something. ... I used to lead a restless life, until I
toward life, as well as on his understanding of
found a natural base that allowed me to turn away
from that kind of existence. We both married; he art. Music was a reliable means for gaining ac¬
needed to put the emphasis on "beauty" and in so cess to realms of feeling, and it provided him
doing overlooked other, more important things. The with a measure for exploring the rules of com¬
result was that his marriage grew shaky. He wouldn't
position and the precision of execution involved
stop chasing after shattering experiences. The con¬
sequences for his artistic work could only be negative. in the creation of a work of art.
. . . In contrast to him, then, I had become a kind of There is no question in my mind that Klee
monk, a monk with a naturally broad base that could arrived at his profound understanding of ro¬
accommodate all natural functions. I regarded mar¬
manticism fundamentally by way of his musi-
riage as a sexual cure. My romantic inclinations were
cality and his knowledge and love of music, from
fed by the mystery of sexuality. I found that monog¬
amy included this mystery, and that was enough.27 Bach, Mozart, and Schubert to Wagner and
Offenbach. Using Beethovens Fifth Symphony
Is not Klee in his own words explaining his as his example, E.T.A. Hoffmann described mu¬
romantic desire as a consequence of his mon¬ sic as "the most romantic of all the arts—one
astic abstinence? And was his early renunciation might almost say the only purely romantic one";
of the vital fulfillment of his sexuality what he and for Jean Paul romantic expression culmi¬
meant by his so-called inner war, to which he nated in tone and timbre, which were "beauty 79
appealed in 1914 as the reason why the actual without limits."29 The ideals of romanticism are
war was of no real concern to him? In 1915 he more obviously embodied in music than in any
noted thoughtfully in his diary: "Must I never other artistic genre. For the content of music is
lead anything but an inner life; must I forever unrestricted, its expression is directed entirely
walk along in a well-behaved, average man¬ toward feeling, and its dynamics are without
ner?"28 weight. Asa result, music was not only a decisive
source of inspiration for Klee all his life but could
One cannot speak of Klee as a romantic without "often be a comfort when necessary."30 Impor¬
at least touching upon the subject of music. tant though the stimuli of painting, poetry, or
Fig. 28. Paul Klee. Woe is me in the stormy wind of eternally fleeing time, 1912 /131. Pen and India ink on paper,
15/8 x 7'A in. (4.1 x 18.4 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung

past and present philosophy undoubtedly were, highly personal interpretation of Caspar David
the final standard of perfection in art for Klee Friedrich's Wanderer over a Sea of Fog—to the
was music. Besides, no academic aftertaste caricature of a little stick figure with arms raised
clung to its inspiration. in complaint:
Daily involvement with music and the result¬
Woe is me in the stormy wind of eternally fleeing time
ing attempt to turn musical experience and Woe is me alone ringed in by isolation
knowledge to artistic account led empirically to Woe is me far below on the icy ground of madness
romanticism in Klee's feeling, thought, and artis¬
tic creation, even without his having to immerse Weh mir unter dem Sturmwind ewig fliehender Zeit
himself in Romantic painting, poetry, or philoso¬ Weh mir in der Verlassenheit ringsum in der Mitte
allein
phy. It is characteristic that he discovered the
Weh mir tief unten auf dem vereisten Grunde Wahn
great German Romantic poet E.T.A. Hoffmann
by way of Tales of Hoffmann, the work of the In view of such perceptions, is not the argu¬
highly gifted operetta composer, Jacques Offen¬ ment that Klee's Romanticism is nothing but a
bach. The lithograph Hoffmannesque Scene "flight" from reality into a world of fantasy un¬
(1921; fig. 27)—a farcical paraphrase of Hoff¬ necessary? The consequence of his aloofness
mann's poetic tales, the basis for Offenbach's with respect to this world was a profound isola¬
opera libretto—is one of the few direct quota¬ tion. The result in his work, in contrast, was an
tions of Romanticism in Klee's work.31 inexhaustible wealth of inner movements and of
No one has recognized and defined the influ¬ transitions between the formal elements of ar¬
ence of music on Klee's artistic development and tistic production and his conceptual statements.
on his romantic idealism more clearly than From the perspective of his "distant" point of
Wilhelm Hausenstein in his early monograph on view, in his shifts between contemplation of the
the artist: "It is precisely in the imperturbability here and now and longing for a transcendent
of the person that its origin lies; in the shutting existence freed from gravity, Klee created a ro¬
out of influences; in the deflection of tradition mantic language of signs in which a circle is
and community; in the completeness of isola¬ readily understood as a star and a reference to
tion. ... It is music that joined the painter- the cosmos, and a puppet or stick figure mirrors
draftsman Klee and his idealism—this word is the whole complexity of human, earthly con¬
both permissible and essential—to tradition. straint. At the same time, the standard in Klee's
Others derived what was traditional in their inward contemplation of the object remains the
painting from painting."32 This "deflection of given reality or the tangible idea.
community," this search for the "completeness Klee's vision of art as a metaphor of the Cre¬
of isolation," also had social consequences, of ation led him to the description of chaos and
course, which in Klee's case were expressed as cosmos as two self-contained circular systems
much in his ironically reflected flight into the that approach each other and touch at some
bourgeois idyll as in his wanderings on the edge point in every process of formal creation. That
of the abyss of madness. point is defined by Klee as the basic element of
The swing back and forth between reserve all pictorial production, comparable to the seed
and madness constitutes yet another topos of from which all life grows. From the point, which
Romanticism and the history of its interpreta¬ is created when the pencil first touches the pa¬
tion. After all, no less a figure than Goethe per, there develops through movement a multi¬
stated: "I call the classical healthy, the romantic plicity of points; repetition and layering; lines,
sick," and in this context went so far as to set the outlines, and surfaces; tonal gradations be¬
notions "strong, fresh, joyous and healthy" in tween black and white; and colors. In the pro¬
opposition to "weak, sickly and sick."33 In the cess of giving form to art, the artist makes use of
final analysis, such utterances always imply a these realities as a Creator uses the laws of
deep personal dismay. The fact that the National nature. Klee's visionary recreation of reality is
Socialists in Germany used similar criteria when finally not so very different from that of his great
they denigrated Klee as a "degenerate artist" Bernese contemporary Adolf Wolfli, who pro¬
speaks for the sincerity of his romantic attitude. duced his monumental pictorial, poetic, and
He never made a secret of his personal weak¬ musical work in the total isolation of a mental
nesses, his loneliness, his fears, and his illusions. institution. With spontaneity and deliberation at
In a tiny drawing of 1912 (fig. 28), Klee added the once, Klee created a new world from within in
following poem—which can also be taken as a which the outside world was mirrored.
 Notes
Rosenblum understandably devotes only a brief Wild war mein Kuss,
discussion to Paul Klee, and his emphasis is essen¬ Und wie's in den Schlafen mir schlug!
tially on Klee's romantic visions of nature. Hoch druber ging
2. Tagebucher von Paul Klee 1898-1918, ed. Felix Ein sturmender Wolkenzug.
Klee (Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1957), no.
Nachtliche Sonn'
941 (1914), p. 314.
Wann hatt ich geahnt solch Gluck!
Translator's note: The terms Diesseits and Jenseits 3. H. Borsch-Supan and K. W. Jahnig, Caspar David
Elisabeth!
(lit., "this side," "that side"; adj., diesseitig, jenseitig) Friedrich (Munich, 1973), pp. 250, 260. See also
Dir soil es gelten dies Stuck.
have been variously translated in this essay, the former the exhibition catalog C. D. Friedrich, Kunsthalle
as "the here and now," "this world," and "the terres¬ Hamburg, 1974, no. 135, p. 218. From Klee's letter to Hans Bloesch, Munich, March
trial," and the latter as "the beyond," "the transcen¬ 4. In facsimile edition of Klee's lecture notes, see note 1, 1899; Bloesch family archives, Winterthur.
dental," and "otherworldly." In German the terms are for April 3, 1922, in Paul Klee: Beitrage zur 11. Tagebucher, p. 133, no. 429 (1902).
complementary in meaning and express a dialogue bildnerischen Formlehre, ed. Jurgen Glaesemer 12. Ibid., pp. 172-73, no. 585 (1905).
that is largely lost in English, since it is impossible to (Basel and Stuttgart, 1979), pp. 127, 128. 13. "Paul Klee: Wege des Naturstudiums: Staatliches
retain the parallelism of form. Klee's title of his 1922 5. The watercolor was purchased soon after its com¬ Bauhaus Weimar/Munchen 1923," in The Think¬
watercolor Wandbild aus dem Tempel der Sehnsucht pletion by one of the most important contempo¬ ing Eye: The Notebooks of Paul Klee, ed. Jurg
^ dorthin * has been translated in this essay as Mural rary collectors of Klee's work, Otto Ralfs of Spiller (New York, 1961), pp. 63-68.
from the Temple of Longing KOver There * . The Braunschweig, Germany. Klee wrote the note on 14. Jean Paul, Vorschule der Aesthetik, 5th program,
owner of the picture, reproduced in figure 3 and on the occasion of a visit to Ralfs, "when I saw one of para. 23 (1804).
p. 175, translates it as Mural from the Temple of Long¬ my watercolors again," as he noted at the bottom. 15. On this, see inter alia Wilhelm Schlegel, Lyceums-
ing Thither* . 6. An English translation of Kleist's essay appears in Fragment 108, Athenaums-Fragment 238;
Merle Armitage, ed., 5 Essays on Klee (New York, Novalis, Fragmente 30. On the definition of ro¬
1. The concepts "romanticism" and "romantic" were 1950), pp. 63-81. mantic irony, see Helmut Prang, Die romantische
already applied to Klee in the first publications on 7. The play of meanings is carried so far in the picture Ironie (Darmstadt, 1972).
the artist by Wilhelm Hausenstein, Hans Wed- that Klee even distinguishes in his linear figura¬ 16. As Klee intended, the picture is open to various
derkop, and Leopold Zahn in the early twenties. tions between different kinds of pendular move¬ interpretations. Is this revolution of toy forms a
Markedly greater weight was given to the sub¬ ments. Horizontal crossbars create various linear, caricature of the National Socialist revolution in
ject in German publications after World War II, meandering patterns. Some are linked in an end¬ Germany of the thirties, or is it, as O. K. Werck-
however. Will Grohmann (Paul Klee [Stuttgart, lessly circling movement; others have cords with meister subtly tries to prove in his essay in this
1954], pp. 207, 334), in emphasizing Klee's rela¬ endings like small pendulum weights, either both book, the cultural revolution of the avant-garde?
tionship to romanticism, mainly cited Novalis. pointing down or one up and one down. We may in any case rule out the possibility that
Werner Haftmann, in contrast (Paul Klee: Wege 8. The psychological mechanisms of Klee's "distanc¬ Klee was caricaturing his own artistic individuality
bildnerischen Denkens[Munich, 1950], pp. 125ff.), ing" himself ("Diesseitig bin ich garnicht fassbar") with these mechanically striding, totally world-
climaxed his analysis of Klee with a general refer¬ were formulated by Sigmund Freud in his essay oriented forms.
ence to the importance of romanticism to our "Das Unbehagen in der Kultur" (1930), published 17. Shortly after his marriage in 1906, Klee, then liv¬
understanding of the artist. However, Haftmann in English as "Civilization and Its Discontents": ing in Munich, even tried to find work as a car¬
did not go beyond drawing parallels between "Another technique for fending off suffering is the icaturist for the Munich periodical Simplicissimus,
Klee's pictorial thinking and Goethe's morphology. employment of the displacements of libido which but his style was said to be too eccentric (Tag¬
Carola Giedion-Welcker (Paul Klee [Stuttgart, our mental apparatus permits.. . .The task here is ebucher, p. 219, no. 779). Only once did he suc¬
1954], pp. 47ff.) was the first to comment gener¬ that of shifting the instinctual aims in such a way ceed in having a caricature accepted by a periodi¬
ally on the relationship between Klee's pictorial that they cannot come up against frustration from cal: Concert of the Parties (1907 / 14), published
language of symbols and similar conceptions in the external world. In this, sublimation of the in¬ in Der grune Eleinrich. This humorous journal
the work of the Romantics, especially Runge. Max stincts lends its assistance. One gains the most if folded after a year.
Huggler (Paul Klee: Die Malerel als Bllck In den one can sufficiently heighten the yield of pleasure 18. Tagebucher, p. 134, no. 430 (1902).
Kosmos [Frauenfeld and Stuttgart, 1969], pp. from the sources of psychical and intellectual 19. Klee, lecture delivered on the occasion of an ex¬
239ff.), like Grohmann, chiefly drew comparisons work. When that is so, fate can do little against hibition at the Jena Kunstverein, January 26,
with the texts of Novalis, but he cast doubt on one. A satisfaction of this kind, such as an artist's 1924. In The Thinking Eye, p. 92.
Grohmann's assertion that Klee was acquainted joy in creating, in giving his phantasies body, or a 20. See, "Paul Klee, Creative Credo, Berlin 1920," in
with Novalis's poetry and showed that, at most, he scientist's in solving problems or discovering The Thinking Eye, p. 79.
could have read the "Hymnen an die Nacht" late in truths, has a special quality which we shall cer¬ 21. F. W. J. Schelling, Ueber das Wesen der mensch-
life. Huggler claimed that, besides romanticism, tainly one day be able to characterize in meta- lichen Freiheit (1809), pp. 370-71.
there was "a classical component at work" in Klee, psychological terms. At present we can only say 22. See also Theodora Vischer, Beuys und die Roman¬
but did not give a more precise definition of this figuratively that such satisfactions seem 'finer and tik (Cologne, 1983).
concept. higher.' But their intensity is mild as compared with 23. Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan, Oder eine
Among the writings of younger authors, the that derived from the sating of crude and primary Geschichte vom Maler Klee und von der Kunst
most discriminating analysis of the correlation be¬ instinctual impulses; it does not convulse our dieses Zeitalters (Munich, 1921), pp. 49, 50.
tween Klee's motifs and those of the Romantics is physical being. And the weak point of this method 24. Ludwig Marcuse, "Reaktionare und progressive
Hans-Ulrich Schlumpf's, in his doctoral disserta¬ is that it is not applicable generally: it is accessible Romantik," in Begriffsbestimmung der Romantik,
tion "Das Gestirn uber der Stadt, Ein Motiv im to only a few people. It presupposes the posses¬ ed. Helmut Prang (Darmstadt, 1968), pp. 377-85.
Werk von Paul Klee" (Zurich, 1969-76). Restrict¬ sion of special dispositions and gifts which are far 25. Ernst Sonderegger (1882-1956), a friend of Klee's
ing himself to the single—but central—theme of from being common to any practical degree. And youth, had a fund of literary knowledge that was
"heavenly bodies above the city," Schlumpf found even to the few who do possess them, this an important inspiration for Klee during his years
numerous parallels between Klee's work and the method cannot give complete protection from in Munich between 1906 and 1910. Sonderegger,
texts of Goethe, Jean Paul, Tieck, Eichendorff, and suffering. It creates no impenetrable armour an artist (primarily a draftsman and illustrator),
Heine. Claude Roy (Paul Klee aux sources de la against the arrows of fortune, and it habitually never became successful.
peinture [Paris, 1963], pp. 9ff.) compiled for fails when the source of suffering is a person's own 26. Ernst Sonderegger in a letter to Paul Klee (La
French readers a brief survey of some of the essen¬ body." Quoted in The Complete Psychological Frette, December 16, 1931); Kunstmuseum Bern,
tial features of German Romanticism from Klee's Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 21 (London, 1961), Paul Klee Stiftung.
perspective. David Burnett ("Paul Klee: The Ro¬ pp. 79-80. 27. Tagebucher, pp. 319-20, no. 958 (1915).
mantic Landscape," Art Journal [New York], vol. 9. For a fuller definition of the historical connections 28. Ibid., p. 324, no. 963 (1915).
36, no. 4 (Summer 1977], pp. 322-26) was the and forms of artistic expression of German Ro¬ 29. E. T. A. Hoffmann, Werke in 15 Banden, vol. 14
first scholar to concentrate exclusively on the sub¬ manticism in the decisive period around 1800, see 1912), pp. 40-43; Jean Paul, Kleine
(Berlin,
ject of Klee and Romanticism. But neither his sur¬ Jurgen Glaesemer, "Traum und Wahrheit, Nachschule der Vorschule der Aesthetik, 5th pro¬
vey of Klee nor that of the "romantic" phe¬ Ueberlegungen zur Romantik am Material einer gram, para. 7.
nomenon adequately addresses specific connec¬ Ausstellung," in Traum und Wahrheit, Deutsche 30. Tagebucher, p. 134, no. 429 (1902).
tions between the two and as a result his energy is Romantik aus den Museen der DDR (Bern and 31. Jurgen Glaesemer, "Paul Klee et Jacques Offen¬
largely expended on general readings of pictures. Stuttgart, 1985), pp. 12-28. bach," in Klee et la musique (Paris, 1985), pp.
Finally, Robert Rosenblum presents a broad and 10. Ich sank dahin 169ff.
informative range of pictorial comparisons in In die Arme dem fiebernden Traum, 32. Hausenstein, p. 107.
Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tra¬ Ich kusste dich 33. Johann Peter Eckermann, Gesprache mit Goethe
dition (New York and London, 1975). However Dort unten am Weidenbaum. (April 2, 1829).
Klee in America
CAROLYN LANCHNER

Paul Klee traveled little and almost certainly our adopted ancestors."3 Yet Klee's art has re¬
never considered going to America. But, as mained almost an "outsider art," in what
Wassily Kandinsky wrote in his 1936 birthday Hannah Arendt called "the lot of the unclassifi-
message to Klee: "Your art is going from country able." This is particularly true in the United
to country and over big ponds."1 Kandinsky States, where accounts of the New York School
wrote these words as the tide of German history give a peculiar kind of short shrift to Klee, often
was accelerating the dispersal of Klee's "degen¬ ascribing to him mainstream importance yet
erate art" and depositing much of it on Amer¬ withholding further commentary or confining
ican shores. Klee's exiled art considerably en¬ his contribution to one of spirit.4
riched public and private collections in the There is some reason for this near-cavalier
United States, but the Nazi dictator was far from treatment. The relevance of Klee's work to
the first agent of contact between Klee and American art is far more difficult to localize than
America. is that of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, or Kandinsky;
Klee's American debut was modest, achieved nor can it be categorized within any larger
by means of a 1911 watercolor, House by the movement. Yet the presence of Klee in America
Brook, published in Arthur Jerome Eddy's book has a long and extensive history, and an exam¬
Cubists and Post-Impressionism in the same year ination of that history should reveal the ways in
as the outbreak of World War I.2 During the which his art came to be important to midcen¬
succeeding conflict, little European and still less tury American painting.
German art reached America. Throughout the The 1914 book in which Klee made his unas¬
twenties, however, and into the next two de¬ suming debut was dedicated "TO THAT SPIRIT,
cades, the advanced art of Europe was the most the beating of whose restless wings is heard in
potent force on the American art scene. The every land." Written with considerable knowl¬
influence of Picasso and the School of Paris was edge of developments in European art, and, as
almost numbingly powerful, whereas Klee's art, Eddy said, out of the "ferment" of its times, the
increasingly visible during those years, was more book was addressed to the sensibilities of a spe¬
insidious, exerting a pressure that would prove cifically American audience. For all Eddy's ethe¬
in its way as fructifying to American painting as real rhetoric, he aimed his conversion tactics at
the more obvious seductions of the Spanish making art seem a challenge to the virile imag¬
master. ination like any other in "religion, science, pol¬
Acknowledged by a wide variety of commen¬ itics and business." When he remarked that the
tators both in America and Europe, Klee's impor¬ 1913 Armory Show was just as inevitable as the
tance to the development of twentieth-century Progressive party political convention of 1912 in
art, and by extension, to Post World War II Amer¬ Chicago, he was right on target.5 The Bull
ican painting, has hardly gone unrecognized. An Moose Teddy Roosevelt himself, despite his in¬
appreciation of the more profound aspects of tense dislike of the European art he saw at the
Klee's art, as opposed to its evident popular Armory Show, had nonetheless allowed: "There
appeal, was long the property of an elite group was not a touch of simpering self-satisfied con¬
of amateurs, critics, and scholars, but by 1949 ventionality ... no stunting or dwarfing, no
the situation would seem to have changed, as requirement that a man whose gifts lay in new
reflected in a review of the Klee exhibition at The directions should measure up or down to stereo¬
Museum of Modern Art of that year: "Klee's typed and fossilized standards."6
influence has been tremendous on contempo¬ Implicit in Roosevelt's remarks was a call for a
rary American art. [The exhibition] is not only a native American art that could stand foot to
memorial to a modern master, but also to one of foot with its European counterparts, and a cor-
 On one hand, it produced skepticism toward
collective action or theory, and on the other, the
conviction that the "ego was the only reliable
element in the entire matter of creative art."8
Such a self-aware, protoexistential view of self
was unusual for an artist early in this century. As
art in Europe had for some sixty years been
steadily distancing itself from the concerns and
ideals of its surrounding culture, so also had it
come to have more faith in its own potency. This
was true to such a degree that most of the
movements that came into being after the be¬
ginnings of Cubism were inspired at least in part
by the belief that art could be a transforming
force in the shaping of a new and better society.
This belief persisted in "negative" form in Dada
and Surrealism. Even the "positive" denigration
of painting by the Bauhaus testified to a still
unextinguished hope that the aims and ideals of
art would converge with those of society. Al¬
though Klee was associated with the Blaue
Reiter, was a professor at the Bauhaus, and was
at least partially annexed by both Dada and
Surrealism, he was never a true believer. There
was for him no sustaining umbrella of faith in
any codified system outside art as, for example,
Fig. 1. Paul Klee (1879-1940). Hero with the Wing
(Held mitdem Flugel), 1905 / 38. Etching, 10 x 6!4in. theosophy served Mondrian and Kandinsky. He
(25.4 x 15.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New was, as his writings and pictures amply prove,
York, Purchase Fund deeply inclined to mysticism, but it was a per¬
sonalized, Goethean, organicist amalgam of his
ollary assumption that the conquering of new own devising.
territory for art was a suitable endeavor for indi¬ The artist, Klee felt, should hold himself aloof
vidual enterprise. But in fact there was virtually from "the sticky mud of the world of ap¬
no tradition in American society that conferred pearances," and except for a brief and appar¬
useful cultural value on art or its practitioners. In ently peripheral involvement in the Munich 1919
Europe, however, despite the tendency from the Raterrepublik, Klee abjured commitment to out¬
mid-nineteenth century on for art to swing ever side causes, regulating his life in logical conse¬
looser on its societal moorings, it was deeply quence of his 1906 observation: "Democracy
embedded in the culture. with its semi-civilization sincerely cherishes junk.
Eddy's book, with its invocation to the spirit The artist's power should be spiritual. But the
whose wings beat in every land, sought to power of the majority is material. When these
arouse in the consciousness of his American worlds meet occasionally, it is pure coinci¬
readers an appreciation of the artist as hero. On dence."9
the first page, Eddy cast the artist as confronting Klee's enterprise as an artist was undertaken
the quintessential dilemma of humanity: "As in acute predicament, in an intensely felt
man in his loftiest flight stretches forth his hand awareness of the dichotomy between material
to seize a star he drops back to earth. Perfection existence and inner spirit. His highest imperative
is unattainable." Eddy's Icaruslike image of the was his instinct as an artist; yet, like his Hero, he
artist could well have been illustrated by Hero was bound to the terrestrial. In 1925 he reiter¬
with the Wing (1905; fig. 1), one of the prints ated his conception of the "ultimate human
from Paul Klee's Invention series, the earliest tragedy: Man's mental ability to traverse the
suite of works in his oeuvre. The hero depicted is realms of the earth and the supernatural ... in
a pathetic figure, "tragicomic" in Klee's words— contrast to his physical weakness . . . half
his left side earthbound, his right equipped for winged, half captive. Thought as the medium
flight. Klee described his hero in his diary: "Per¬ between earth and universe. The further the
haps a Don Quixote of ancient times. . . . The journey the more grievous the tragedy of need¬
man born with only one wing, in contrast with ing to become movement and not yet being it
divine creatures, makes incessant efforts to fly. . . . the recognition that where there is a begin¬
In doing so, he breaks his arm and leg but per¬ ning there is no infinity; comfort: a bit further
sists under the banner of his idea. The contrast than usual! than possible?"10 In such a scheme,
between his statuelike, solemn attitude and his thrust becomes the essential; for the artist, the
already ruined state need especially to be cap¬ process of form-giving must therefore be more
tured."7 Typically, Klee saw the humor in the important than the completed form. Only in
absurd plight of his hero, but it was nonetheless passionate quest could the artist, solitary in the
a bleak commentary on the condition of man. universe, hope to come close to the "heart of
The unbridgeable distance between man's creation," his art becoming the sensitized record
imaginative freedom and his effective ability to of his search for what Merleau-Ponty called "the
realize his aspirations was central to Klee's think¬ secret ciphers of movement." Klee never ceased
ing and held important consequences for his art. expressing his belief that "the road to form,
 dictated as it is by some kind of inner or outer absurd point of view. ... All that we can hope
necessity, is more important than the end of the for is to put some order into ourselves. When a
road. . . . Form therefore, must . . . never be man ploughs his field at the right time, it means
taken as completion, as result, as an end, but just that. Insofar as we understand the uni¬
rather as genesis, as becoming, as being, but verse—if it can be understood—our doings
form as appearance is an evil, dangerous must have some desire for order in them; but
phantom."11 from the point of view of the universe, they must
Klee's own appearance seems to have been ir¬ be very grotesque."16
ritatingly deceptive—at least to one Frenchman, In contrast with the "artistic order of rest"
who in 1929, on seeing a photograph of the advocated by Ingres, Klee expressed his ordering
Bauhaus professor, reported: "Thisdamned por¬ desires by saying: "I should like to create an
trait looks like an American."12 This outburst of order out of feeling and going still further, out of
Gallic disgust now reads with a pleasant savor of motion."17 He continued: "I begin logically with
irony, for the metaphysics of Klee's art is ex¬ chaos . . . because at the start I may myself be
tremely close to that of American Abstract Ex¬ chaos."18 This interior chaos paralleled, Klee be¬
pressionism. As William Seitz wrote in his pi¬ lieved, "a mythical primal condition of the world
oneering book on the New York School: "Klee's from which the ordered cosmos gradually, or
aesthetics are at the core of Abstract Expres¬ suddenly, takes shape by itself or by the act of a
sionism's spirit characteristics."13 Klee's early em¬ creator."19 Consequently, he based his artistic
phasis on art as becoming, his recognition that method on the intensive study of natural laws;
Gotthold Lessing was no longer of much use, the nearer he could come to the formative prin¬
that painting was to be temporal and active, and ciples of cosmic ordering, the closer he could
his somewhat Heideggerlike view of the artist as come to emulating those principles in his own
"thrown into the world," devoid of any truth art. During his years at the Bauhaus, Klee formu¬
outside his own being, brought him very near to lated a theoretical structure for the dynamics of
the thinking of American artists of the early painting equaled, perhaps, only by the inves¬
Fig. 2. Paul Klee. Kettledrummer (Paukenspieler), forties. tigations of Leonardo. His analyses were in no
1940 / 270 (L 10). Brush and colored paste on hand¬
To the extent that belief can be chosen, Klee sense meant as law but rather as working
made paper, mounted on cardboard, 13% x 8% in.
elected to see man as solitary in the universe. For means, necessary because he could not, as he
(34.6 x 21.2 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee
Stiftung the American artist of the early forties, the situa¬ said, "deal in one blow with an entirety."20 Klee's
tion was different; an adequate myth no longer ambitious dream, expressed in a lecture at Jena
existed. At the beginning of the second, world¬ in 1924, was for "a work of really great breadth,
embracing war, options were largely closed on ranging through the whole region of element,
ideas that had offered hope in the earlier part of object, meaning and style."21 In his lifelong pur¬
the century. This stark position put the artist suit of that goal, Klee produced an oeuvre of
where Klee had been—wrestling alone with the great expressive power and dazzling formal in¬
terrible example of original creation. The first vention. So varied were his experiments in pic¬
generation of American Abstract Expressionists torial form that his work, as Harold Rosenberg
found as many pictorial responses to this prob¬ pointed out, "calls to mind contemporary paint¬
lem as there were artists, and many of these ers and art movements seemingly irreconcilable
responses had in some measure already been with one another: Hans Hofmann and Du¬
formulated by Klee. His tragicomic hero of 1905 buffet, Saul Steinberg, Baziotes and
had worn many masks over the course of the Anuszkiewicz and Ferren, Gottlieb, Franz Kline,
years, and one of his last appearances was in the Pollock, Op and Pop."22 This immensely diverse
Kettledrummer (1940; fig. 2), painted shortly work, turned through every gear of modernist
before the death Klee knew was fast approach¬ pictorial expression, became a significant pres¬
ing finally came. Kettledrummer1s slashing, ence on the American art scene during the
schematic rendering puts the artist-hero at a twenties.
distant remove from his first static, carefully New and seemingly radical art had been
drawn appearance. In Kettledrummer the shape championed during the second decade of the
of the thought becomes the shape of the image century by such people as Eddy, Willard Hunt¬
in a tautology of form and content that would ington Wright, and above all, by Alfred Stieglitz,
not be seen again until the late forties in Amer¬ butto little overall effect. By 1920 Americans still
ican gestural painting. regarded Cubism and all the other "isms" of
The heroism of Klee's 1905 figure and of his modernist expression as at best a transient fad
Kettledrummer is also the heroism of Barnett and at worst a hoax. Mostly it just didn't matter.
Newman's "First Man," who was of necessity an "Art," Stieglitz observed, "is the equivalent in
artist, his "first expression ... a poetic outcry American society to what the appendix is to the
. . . of awe and anger at his tragic state, at his human body."23 For those few to whom it did
own self-awareness and at his own helplessness matter, the propagation of advanced paint¬ 85

before the void,"14 as it was also that of Clyfford ing and sculpture became missionary work.
Still's upright man alone on the prairie. De Koon¬ Throughout the twenties Klee's art was brought
ing, who expressed the opinion that "art ... is before the public as part of the new gospel.
the forever mute part you can talk about for¬ The cause of modernism had no more impas¬
ever," and might well consider Klee's Teutonic sioned nor idealistic crusader than Katherine
mysticism as a milder form of Kandinsky's "mid- Dreier, who, with Marcel Duchamp, founded the
dle-European Buddhism,"15 put the matter an¬ Societe Anonyme in 1920. The Societe, which
other way: "The attitude that nature is chaotic Dreier parenthetically subtitled "The Museum of
and that the artist puts order into it is a very Modern Art," was founded, according to the
typewritten, fliers it distributed, "to provide a on most artistic issues, and it is reasonable to
public non-commercial center for the study and assume that the activities of the Societe Ano¬
promotion of MODERN ART." Dreier's taste was nyme on behalf of Klee reflected a shared en¬
eclectic, her energy enormous, her manner di¬ thusiasm. Dreier and Duchamp gave the collec¬
dactic, and her faith in the modern movement as tion of the Societe to the Yale University Art
a moral, cultural, and social force absolute. De¬ Gallery in 1941, and when nine years later the
spite the association with the Societe of such university published a catalog of it, Duchamp
influential critics and collectors as Henry wrote that Klee stood out "in contemporary
McBride, Christian Brinton, A. E. Gallatin, and painting as unrelated to anyone else. On the
Walter Arensberg, it received virtually no sup¬ other hand his experiments over the last thirty
port outside of Dreier herself. It was she who years have been used by other artists as a basis
kept the Societe afloat against the tide of the for new developments in the different fields of
times, and made advanced European art avail¬ art.. . . His extreme fecundity never shows signs
able to those who would take the trouble. of repetition as is generally the case."28
Dreier first showed Klee's work in a group Duchamp and Dreier's 1924 Societe Anonyme
exhibition in the early spring of 1921 and again Klee exhibition was the earliest significant op¬
in the winter of 19 2 3.24 Between these dates, in portunity for Americans to take some measure
October of 1922, Dreier had visited both Klee of that fecundity, but it was not the only indica¬
and Kandinsky at the Bauhaus, buying works tion of nascent interest. William Valentiner, a
from them and making plans for one-artist German art historian who was to become direc¬
shows for each. Kandinsky's was held in 1923 tor of the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1924, had
under the Society's auspices at Vassar College, visited Klee in Weimar in 1922 and had bought
and Klee's opened in January 1924 in newly four watercolors from him. In the following year,
rented galleries in the Heckscher Building on Valentiner included Klee's work in the first ex¬
Fifty-seventh Street, New York City. The sin¬ hibition of contemporary German art ever held
gularity of Klee's art seems to have been appar¬ in America. To whatever extent modernist art
ent even at this early date. Henry McBride ad¬ had established a beachhead in America, it was
vised his readers in the New York Sun that they held by French forces, and Valentiner very much
would find in the new quarters of the Societe hoped to claim some of that territory through
Anonyme "a most entrancing exhibition of that his German exhibition, which opened on Oc¬
strange meteor from Switzerland—Paul Klee— tober 1, 1923, in the Anderson Galleries, New
an isolated figure in art." Concluding McBride's York. He was apparently not dissatisfied with the
review is an unacknowledged paraphrase from results, writing in his diary: "The main goal has
Dreier: "The charm of his color and the delicacy been accomplished, I believe. German art,
of his lines attract many to him. But what does which for forty years. . . has not been accepted
he say? Ah, that is the question! Is it only some¬ but has, instead, been pushed aside by French
thing whimsical, or beneath the whimsicality is it art, has at last arrived in America and been
something profound?"25 judged favorably."29 He went on to note that
Dreier herself had had some time to ponder sales from the exhibition were good and several
this leading question as she had been aware of German dealers had been encouraged to start
Klee's work from at least the early fall of 1919, branch offices in New York. Although Klee sold
when she visited Herwarth Waldens Der Sturm at least one watercolor, more important to him
gallery in Berlin. She then went to Cologne, in the long run was that J. B. Neumann, who
where, much to the initial consternation of Max had been exhibiting his work in Berlin since the
Ernst and Johannes Baargeld, she appeared un¬ teens, established a gallery in New York in Febru¬
invited at the Kunstverein to watch them install ary 1924. Although Neumann did not imme¬
the Bulletin D exhibition, which included work diately agitate on Klee's behalf, he was to be¬
by Klee. Ernst recalled that he and Baargeld come one of Klee's most dedicated and effective
were much peeved by the stubborn presence of advocates in America.
this large, conventional-looking lady. They were, "Courage" to mount the German exhibition
however, appeased when, insulting remarks had been supplied, Valentiner wrote, by "the
having failed to drive her off, they directly asked well-known lack of prejudice and the broad un¬
her for an explanation, and she replied that not derstanding of American friends of art."30
only was she very interested in the work they Though only a small minority was concerned
were hanging, but it would also be of interest to with art, Valentiner was notwrong in this assess¬
her friend Marcel Duchamp—indeed she would ment of American attitudes. Somewhat para¬
like to arrange for the shipment of the entire doxically, the lack of any official tradition of art
exhibition to America.26 Apparently because of allowed for a more liberal and generous disposi¬
difficulties caused by United States Customs, tion toward the new than generally prevailed in
she was unable to realize the project. Europe, where antagonisms were much stron¬
Had history arranged otherwise, and however ger. The time had come, Valentiner believed, for
its larger course might have been altered by the German art to receive its due in the United
event, it would probably not have been Du¬ States. While that recognition came slowly, and
champ's first glimpse of Klee. According to Du¬ has never quite caught up with the early lead of
champ's friend Henri-Pierre Roche, Duchamp Cubism and the international art of Paris, the
was one of the earliest admirers of Klee and Swiss-German Klee along with the Russian-
Kandinsky, whose work he had first seen during German Kandinsky became the principal stan¬
a summer spent in Munich in 1912.27 In any dard-bearers of German art, and were in¬
event, Dreier and Duchamp were in close accord creasingly seen as among the greatest inno-
Fig. 3. Paul Klee. Suicide on the Bridge (Der Selbstmorder auf der Brucke), 1913 /100. Pen on Ingres paper.
Whereabouts unknown. Published in Broom (Berlin), February 1923

vators of modernism. ary issue of the American left-wing intellectual

In the early twenties Kandinsky's art was more magazine Broom, then being printed in Berlin.
familiar to the English-speaking art world than Reproduced along with Klee's and Grosz's work
Klee's, as it was relatively accessible through were "primitive" Indian drawings and those of
reproduction in publications in English. Klee's the insane together with a commentary that
only exposure had been the watercolor illus¬ remarked on their conceptual similarities.31
trated by Eddy in 1914. In that book alone, Kan¬ Klee's drawings, including Suicide on the Bridge
dinsky was represented by four reproductions, (1913; fig. 3), were all of the automatist charac¬
two of which were in color. Given Klee's ex¬ ter that was just then becoming important to
tended period of development and the fact that two young painters in Paris, Joan Miro and An¬
even in his own judgment he did not reach dre Masson. 87
maturity as a painter until 1914, exactly the The discovery of Klee's art by Miro and Mas¬
period of Kandinsky's freest most daring work, it son was an event of real consequence to the
is more surprising that a Klee was reproduced at development of American painting in the early
all than that there was a disparity in the repre¬ forties. It is widely and justifiably recognized that
sentation of the two artists. Klee's work would the work of both artists was instrumental in the
become more and more available in reproduc¬ struggle of American art to free itself from the
tion, but its first appearance after Eddy was not strictures of Cubist space, and furnished, as
until 1923, when three drawings (along with five well, the most provocative example of the uses
by George Grosz) were published in the Febru¬ of automatism and biomorphism. Klee's art had
a similar liberating function for Masson and,
more immediately and powerfully, for Miro.
Sometime in late 1922, as Masson recalls, he
found a German book full of Klee reproductions
in a stall along the Paris quays. It so excited him
that he lost no time in showing it to his good
friend Joan Miro, whose studio adjoined Mas¬
son's on the rue Blomet. Since Masson remem¬
bers that the book was published in Munich, it
can only have been Wilhelm Hausenstein's
Kairuan, oder eine Geschichte vom Maler Klee
uhd von der Kunst diesesZeitalters, brought out
only the year before by the Kurt Wolff Verlag of
Munich.32 The illustrations of Klee's work were a
marvelous discovery for the two impoverished
young artists. It came at a time when Masson
was desperately looking for a way out of "the
terrorism of Cubism," and Miro was searching
for a way to implement his threat to "break the
Cubist guitar." The fortuitous find of Hausen¬
stein's Klee book seems to have had an almost
immediate impact on Miro's art.
It cannot, of course, be argued that Miro
would not have been Miro if it were not for Klee,
but the dramatic changes in Miro's art between
1922 and 1924, and the form and directions Fig. 4. Joan Miro (1893-1983). The Tilled Field, 1923-24. Oil on canvas, 26 x 36'/2 in. (66 x 92.7 cm). The
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
those changes took, powerfully argue for the
fundamental importance of Klee to Miro. The
sources any artist draws on are complex; and
the greater the artist, the more finally frustrating
are attempts to unravel them. Yet a comparison
of the Klees Miro saw in reproduction with the
immediately ensuing changes in his own work
supports Miro's statement, as reported by
Brassai, that: "My encounter with Klee's work
was the most important event in my life."33
What must have startled Miro as he first
looked at Klee's images was their perversion of
Cubist structure to accommodate romantic
landscape and fantastic signs. At any rate, this is
what surfaces most immediately in Miro's work;
only slightly later did he pick up on Klee's cal¬
ligraphic, nondescriptive line, and finally take
Klee's hints to open up a new, "poetic" pictorial
space.
Fig. 5. Paul Klee. Zoo (Tiergarten), 1918 / 42. Watercoloron plaster-primed
The initial work to manifest Klee's influence
wrapping paper, mounted on cardboard, 63A x 9Vs in. (17.1 x 23.1 cm).
was The Tilled Field (1923-24; fig. 4), where, for Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung. Published in Wilhelm Hausenstein,
the first time, Miro gave free reign to wholly Kairuan (Munich, 1921)
imaginary elements. Unlike the artist's earlier
landscapes, which could be identified with fa¬
miliar places such as his family farm at Montroig,
this one describes a region much closer to that
of Klee's Zoo (1918; fig. 5) or Landscape with
Dove (1918; fig. 6), both found in Hausenstein's
book. The eye in the landscape, prominent in
the Zoo and long familiar in Klee's work, made
its first of many appearances in Miro's oeuvre in
Tilled Field, and the bird-arrow in the sky, the
flags flying in opposite directions, even the diag¬
onal thrust of the object at the left pushing out
of a stylized fig tree, can be explained as extrap¬
olations not only from the two paintings, but
from the varied range of images provided Miro
by Hausenstein.
It would not be surprising if Miro's first experi¬
ments with ideas received from Klee were based
on Zoo and Landscape with Dove, as their evi¬
Fig. 6. Paul Klee. Landscape with Dove (Bild mit der Taube), 1918/118.
dent Cubist structures would have made them Watercolor, 7V6 x 9Vs in. (18 x 24.4 cm). Whereabouts unknown. Pub¬
more accessible than such freely composed lished in Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan (Munich, 1921)
 i\
. Ih
ifrf n
Fig. 7. Paul Klee. Souvenir (Gedenkblatt), n.d. Whereabouts unknown. Pub¬
lished in Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan (Munich, 1921)

. Iquarcll 1

■■P

Ai/uarell 11

Fig. 8. Paul Klee. Watercolors I and II (Aquarell I and Aquarell II), n.d. Where¬
abouts unknown. Published in Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan (Munich, 1921)

images (also in Hausenstein) as Souvenir, (fig. 7) the exact contrary is the case, what he seeks is
and Watercolors I and II (fig. 8), which are much the unlimited ... he wants to hold in check the
closer to Miro's mature style. Shortly after the reasonable horizon. The slight antenna of a
Tilled Field, other Kleelike pictorial devices be¬ scarab will suffice to measure the desert."35
gan to creep into Miromonde, such as the Masson's sensitive reading of line as antenna
frequent use of a dotted line to indicate move¬ and pictorial field as desert could well apply to
ment, the appearance of numbers and letters Miro's "Sourire de ma blonde" (1924; fig. 9), the
that no longer refer to external reality as in central motif of which strongly suggests a
Cubism but assume independent poetic weight, source in Klee's The Eye of Eros (1919; fig. 10),
and an ordering of compositional elements that also featured in the Klee book Miro and Masson
isolates and enlarges according to a wholly per¬ shared. In "Sourire de ma blonde," line has be¬
sonal hierarchy. come an independent, nonillusionist element
Much later, both Hans Hofmann and Clement that seems to generate itself as in Souvenir and
Greenberg were to remark on Klee's "high de¬ many of the other illustrations in Hausenstein.
gree" of importance to Miro.34That importance The space of "Sourire de ma blonde" is, as in
does not lie in shared or similar iconography but Klee, organic, weightless, and indeterminate. It
rather in Miro's ability to assimilate Klee's liber¬ is materially flatter than Cubist space, as there is
ated use of line and, perhaps above all, in Miro's less sensed differentiation between canvas sur¬
absorption of Klee's solution to what he had face and paint layer, and, at the same time,
identified as the artist's central problem: "how deeper in that it has become metaphysical,
to enlarge space." No doubt remembering the iconic with the painter's and the viewer's interior
days when Miro and he had stumbled upon space, both sensuous and ideographic. 89
Klee, Masson in his Eulogy of Paul Klee (1946) Although Miro had managed by the end of
described Klee's space, and obliquely compared 1924 to see a few actual works by Klee, it is a
it with Cubist space by enlisting the words of nicety of historical irony that his initial, most
another painter, Henri Michaux, who, "not with¬ telling encounter was through reproductions,
out humor," said Masson, "wrote about the pic¬ just as later, in spite of not infrequent Klee and
tures of a school considered till now to be one of Miro exhibitions during the thirties, American
the most emancipated as regards servility to the artists found the most ready means of studying
visual, [saying] 'we know that you can't see Miro and Klee to be through reproductions in
more than ten feet into them.' With Paul Klee, magazines such as Cahiers d'Art. But even these
opportunities were relatively infrequent during
the twenties. Miro, because he was working out
of Paris and because of his Surrealist connec¬
tions, may have had a name that was better
V
known than Klee's, but during that decade
Klee's art was more available.
The comparatively abundant presence of
Klee's art in America, and its quite remarkable
geographic distribution, was due in large mea¬
sure to the efforts of Emmy "Galka" Scheyer, a
friend of Klee, Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, and
Alexey Jawlensky, whom she represented in the
United States, from 1924 until her death in 1945,
as "The Blue Four." Scheyer seems to have come
up with the idea of going to the new world as a
missionary on behalf of her four artists some¬
time during 1923. The artists themselves were
quite pleased with the idea, but anxious that a
name applied to all four might be taken as a
token of some common school. Writing Scheyer
in January 1924, Klee allowed that in the hypo¬
6
thetical case of a group of unknown artists from
the Orient being sent to Europe, it would proba¬ v /
bly be advantageous if they could be recognized
■
by a characteristic name, and on that basis, he >

and his fellow artists would consent to one pro¬ Fig. 9. Joan Miro. "Sourire de ma blonde," 1924. Tempera on canvas, 345/s x 4514 in. (88 x 115 cm).
vided it "in no case" end with an "ism"36 Whereabouts unknown
Without question the four artists wished to
realize financial and critical success through
their collaboration with Scheyer, but they all—
even Feininger who was born in the United
States—could not help finding the idea of send¬
ing their art to America slightly bizarre, perhaps
akin to the dispatch of coded messages to re¬
ceivers of doubtful literacy. In a spirit of hope
and skepticism, the "four blue professors" sent
their ambassador off, their declared purpose
"the expulsion of bad art from the United States
of America," which would be accomplished
"under the leadership of the children's maid,
Frau Emmy Scheyerin."37 Elsewhere the four re¬
ferred to themselves as kings and to Emmy as
their foreign minister. In the voluminous corre¬
spondence later exchanged by Scheyer, Klee,
and Klee's wife, Lily, there are frequent coy, al¬
most coquettish references, mainly by Scheyer
herself, to her role as nursemaid or, alternatively,
minister to their kingly highnesses.
Scheyer's efforts on behalf of her artists al¬
most equaled the energy of Katherine Dreier's
more broadly based endeavors. Both women
mounted exhibitions, gave lectures, and at¬
tempted to sell works by artists in whom they
believed: behind their activities, however, were Fig. 10. Paul Klee. The Eye of Eros (DasAuge des Eros), 1919 / 53. Pen and ink on paper, 51/s x 85/s in. (13 x 22
different motives and philosophies. Scheyer's cm). Morton G. Neumann Family Collection, Chicago. Published in Wilhelm Hausenstein, Kairuan (Munich, 1921)

projects were undertaken, Klee had written to

Dreier in June 1923, not as a dealer, but out of
love of art;38 while this certainly gave her com¬
mon cause with Dreier, she had little of the
American's earnest belief in the efficacy of art to
uplift society. For Scheyer, art's proper sphere
was much more with the cultural and economic
elite, and it was principally this world she culti¬
vated in proselytizing for her Blue Four.
In a letter to "Kleelilein" (Scheyer's pet name
for Lily Klee) and "Meister" Klee of August 30,
1924, Scheyer recounted the wonders of New
York, made a first tentative suggestion that the
Klees consider a visit, and described her industry
in working for her "beloved Blue Four" She had, this opinion: "Someday, not so far off, the can¬
she told them, spent eight days in the library vases of Kandinsky, Feininger, Jawlensky and
gathering the names of all the universities and Klee will be collected by Americans as feverishly
art institutes in America and a thousand letters as are those of van Gogh, Cezanne and Matisse.
were in the process of being sent out.39 By Feb¬ In Europe, these artists ... are commanding
ruary of the following year she had "barely time respectable prices for their work." The tone of
to breathe" between the lectures she was giv¬ this introduction is not likely to have attracted
ing and the arrangements she was making for Scheyer's most significant customers for Klee's
exhibitions. work, Walter and Louise Arensberg, whose
An exhibition of the Blue Four was just then apartment had been the center of New York
taking place at the Daniel Gallery in New York. Dada in the teens, and the first meeting place of
Flenry McBride in the February 21 issue of the Dreier and Duchamp. The Arensbergs had
New York Sun commented on the "new Group moved to Hollywood in 1921 and had virtually
of Modernists ... [of which] Klee is the best stopped collecting, but, Galka informed Klee,
known in the United States and after this exhibi¬ his work had inspired "Arnsberg" [sic] to begin
tion doubtless will remain so." While hefound all again, and Klee's picture Village Carnival (1926;
four "clever," it was Klee's "charm of manner" p. 221) would be in the excellent company of
that would win. Kandinsky was undoubtedly, "wonderful Cezannes, Rousseaus, Picassos,
McBride said, "sincere and serious, but he is also Brancusis, Renoirs, Gauguins etc., etc., etc."42
forbidding"; whereas Klee was an "Ariel . . . While the only direct focus on Klee between
light, dancing ... no matter what the motif, he his 1924 Societe Anonyme exhibition and the
plays with it with astonishing agility." McBride end of the decade was provided by Scheyer's
finally fell back on the adjective "decorative," West Coast efforts, Katherine Dreier kept up her
which had semipejorative currency in American Bauhaus contacts and included Klee promi¬
criticism of all persuasions from the Armory nently in her most ambitious exhibitions. In 1926
Show to the midforties, and was applied to the she organized the German section of the Phila¬
whole range of modernist expression from the delphia Sesqui-Centennial, and mounted the
most baroque Picasso to the most austere largest and most far-reaching exhibition of in¬
Mondrian. Scheyer's own feelings about the ex¬ ternational modern art to have been held in
hibition, as she reported them in a letter to Lily, America since the Armory Show. In a letter dated
were both wary and optimistic. There was, she March 30, 1926, Dreier told Klee about the two
said, a generally favorable disposition toward exhibitions, explaining early in the letter that
Klee's work manifested in the reactions to the although she had understood from Kandinsky
Daniel Gallery show, but the people who and Galka Scheyer that she should send all of
wanted to buy didn't want to pay. Yet she wrote her Klee paintings to Scheyer, she had sent only
in an addendum to Klee himself that the Amer¬ twelve, as, "I found it a shame not to see you
icans who were looking at his work were im¬ championed in the Sesqui-Centennial Exposi¬
pressed with "its quality as such," and with time tion," and went on: "I have been invited to
something would certainly come of it in the collect the pictures for the modern section of the
United States.40 great International Exhibition which will open
Scheyer apparently felt that the most promis¬ May 1 in Philadelphia. It's the 150th jubilee of the
ing territory was the West Coast. By October Declaration of Independence of the U.S. . . .
1925 she had organized a Blue Four exhibition at and I've sent a group of eleven of your paintings
the University of California at Los Angeles, and there, which were in my possession, and also
in the following year arranged a larger exhibi¬ three which belonged to me." After discussing
tion that opened in Oakland and subsequently prices, Dreier brought up the matter that was
toured to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other closest to her heart, advising Klee that she
West Coast cities. Between 1926 and 1930 Sche¬ would be in Dessau in early May and wanted to
yer mainly operated out of San Francisco, finally see him and Kandinsky because, she said: "I've
settling in Hollywood in 1930. During those succeeded in interesting the big, beautiful,
years and throughout the next decade the Blue Brooklyn Museum in a big International Exhibi¬
Four were seen extensively in the West in exhibi¬ tion of Modern Art, and I'd be very happy if
tions exclusively devoted to their work and in you'd lend some fresh paintings . . . this ... is
others of larger scope. an especially great event, for our museums are
Although Scheyer complained frequently very conservative, and that a museum of the
about her difficulties, she nonetheless enjoyed significance of the Brooklyn Museum would ar¬
some degree of success. In a letter to Lily of range it through me is a matter of great impor¬
late April 1930, she described her wonderful tance."43 Klee's response of April 16 was cordial,
"though uncomfortable Frank Lloyd Wright and he remarked that he was "pleased over our
house" and remarked on the good connections good auspices in America regarding exhibitions,
she had been able to make.41 She was at the museums, etc."44
moment arranging an important four-part ex¬ Klee with eight works and Kandinsky with six
hibition at Hollywood's Braxton Gallery for each were numerically among the best represented
of her Blue Four "kings" The catalog stated that of the 106 artists in the International Exhibition
the exhibition had been sponsored by Josef von of Modern Art, which ran at The Brooklyn Mu¬
Sternberg and Mme Galka E. Scheyer, and in its seum from November 19, 1926, to January 9,
preface, Braxton, the gallery owner whom 1927, and subsequently was shown in some¬
Galka characterized to Klee as "the typical what abbreviated versions at the Anderson Gal¬
dealer in the worst sense of the word," offered leries in Manhattan, the Albright Art Gallery in
Buffalo, and the Toronto Art Gallery. Although tone, he adopted a similar American vernacular
the exhibition elicited considerable press cover¬ address, and his attitudes were typical of con¬
age, it did not receive anything like the attention temporary, liberal, enlightened criticism. If his
the Armory Show had produced, nor did it have groupings strike the present-day reader as bi¬
much immediate effect on American artists. zarre, such as lumping together Grosz, Klee,
Those who had been shocked into new explora¬ Heinrich Campendonk, and Marc Chagall as
tions by the Armory exhibition had reached ar¬ "Expressionists when at their best, Dadaists at
tistic maturity by 1926, and were, for the most their least responsible moments," it is largely
part, painting in Cubist-derived figurative styles. because the particularities of "ismhood" within
For the next generation, the Brooklyn exhibition the larger notion of modern art were not as yet
came too early; most of the artists who would formulated. Cheney championed the new art,
achieve their mature styles in the forties were both European and American, and, like many of
then too young. Even artists such as Mark Roth¬ his fellow critics, tended to prefer the usually less
ko, Barnett Newman, Arshile Gorky, James abstract American versions. His attitudes vacil¬
Brooks, and Adolph Gottlieb, who were already lated on a number of points, not least of which
in New York and studying art, would have been was Paul Klee. On one page he excluded him,
too newly apprenticed to assimilate the ad¬ but not Kandinsky, from the first rank of artists
vanced lessons of the exhibition. Although it "who count," granting him second-rate status
failed to generate significant critical recognition along with Max Pechstein, Erich Heckel, and
or creative response, it made visible the conflict¬ Hans Purrmann; on another, he compared one
ing crosscurrents of European modernism, in¬ of Klee's "whatnots" with a watercolor by John
cluding those coming out of Germany and East¬ Marin. Not surprisingly, he found the Marin
ern Europe, and as the American debut of much superior, but nonetheless declared that
Mondrian and Miro symbolically set the stage Klee, in spite of a seemingly childlike naivete,
for the pictorial debates of the next two "can put the slightest thing on his canvas or
decades. paper and it comes out a palpitating picture."47
Thomas Hart Benton, who three years after His last pronouncement on Klee was that he was
the Brooklyn exhibition was to become Jackson "a man of prime importance closely associated
Pollock's teacher at the Art Students League, with the Munich school," and in spite of "primi¬
looked long and hard atthe pictures in Brooklyn. tiveness of the child-art sort," his paintings and
The tone of his review in the January 1927 issue drawings "never fail to have aesthetic validity. He
of The Arts revealed his effort at sympathetic is counted one of the chief figures in German
comprehension, but he concluded finally that Expressionism today. . . . Klee and Kandinsky
the artists' general preoccupation with materials are both associated at present with the group
and composition was not enough, and he asked that has developed in Weimar what is at present
at the end of his article: "Isn't it possible that to the most interesting school and experimental
derive the greatest variety, interest and origi¬ laboratory of the arts existent anywhere."48 The
nality even in the purely substantive factors of major importance Cheney attributed to the
painting, some motive power, some drive, con¬ Bauhaus was somewhat unusual, as American
necting it with larger fields of human experience critics and collectors tended to focus much more
than those in evidence at the Brooklyn Museum on events in Paris than on anything taking place
is necessary?"45 His own response was to reject in Germany.
abstraction in favor of meaningful subject mat¬ By 1927, however, the Bauhaus was no longer
ter; for his student Pollock and other young in Weimar but in Dessau, and from that city in
artists of his generation, the question prefigured eastern Germany we may be sure that Klee, an
a central dilemma—how to endow what Ben¬ avid follower of the fortunes of his own art, was
ton called the "substantive factors of painting" observing its fate in the wider world. Germany
with power sufficient to carry the greatest itself must have given him some satisfaction, for,
weight of human content. In the endeavor to even though he always seems to have been
find solutions to this problem, the whole spec¬ short of money, his art had attracted devoted
trum of advanced European art was to play a collectors and was beginning to be acquired by
role, but as Greenberg was later to remark, museums throughout the country. Beyond its
"everybody, whether conscious of it or not, was borders what would have interested him most
learning from Klee."46 The freedom of Klee's was the headquarters of the competition, Paris.
nondidactic, stylistically open-ended work, There he had cause for both gratification and
whether abstract or figurative, scrawllike or disappointment. His art was deeply admired by
geometric, by inference or by allusion tied to the most advanced artists, poets, and intellec¬
universal of experience from genetic begin¬ tuals of the French capital. Louis Aragon had
nings to the banal encounters of everyday life, contributed an introduction and Paul Eluard a
provided a unique example. But in 1927 there poem to the catalog of his first French one-man
was as yet no readiness for that example. exhibition at the Galerie Vavin-Raspail in the fall
The small band of individuals who cared of 1925.49 Immediately thereafter, he, Picasso,
about art were mainly still trying to figure it all and de Chirico were the only non-Surrealist-
out As the Brooklyn exhibition toured its various affiliated artists included by Eluard and Breton in
satellite sites, art's puzzled public could look to the first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie
the new edition of Sheldon Cheney's A Primer of Pierre.50 Although Breton was never to be com¬
Modern Art for clarification. Although Cheney pletely happy with Klee's work, remarking at one
stayed fairly clear of Eddy's earlier "spiritual" point that he didn't like Miro because his work
reminded him too much of Klee, he nevertheless as Neumann's take on American attitudes
recommended to that exceptional collector toward German art was petulantly bleak, grim¬
Jacques Doucet that he buy a watercolor.5' mer than the actual situation. He informed his
Everyone else in the nascent bande surrealiste readers:
seems to have had nothing but the deepest
New York is not a city, but a world to itself. It is well
admiration for Klees art. His reputation among known that there are more Italians in New York than
the artistic and intellectual elite only grew with Rome, more jiddische Jews than in Palestine etc. . . .
the years, as is reflected in the fact that Christian above all "more.". . . Here the life of the entire world
is replayed, reproduced or imitated. After that, it's a
Zervos's Cahiers d'Art published the first non-
matter of which nation. My question in the fall of 1923
German monograph on Klee in 1929, contain¬
. . . was, how is it going for German art? and the
ing homages by Aragon, Rene Crevel, Paul German exhibition of 1923 was noteworthy for having
Eluard, Jean Lurcat, Philippe Soupault, Tristan come, gone, and been forgotten. By contrast, Paris
Tzara, and Roger Vitrac.52 The high order of this has many long-standing dealers here, Durand-Ruel,
Bernheim Jeune . . . Paul Rosenberg, Brummer, and so
attention was certainly not lost on Klee. Yet, as
on, and even a conservative like Durand-Ruel shows
artists must also eat, he could not have failed to Braque, which he might not do in Paris.
remark that there were few solid rewards de¬
volving from his singular French distinction. The somewhat paranoid tone abates toward
In retrospect Klee's early experience in France the end, and the author notes that the Blue Four
seems both remarkable and predictable: re¬ were shown in New York and "now wander
markable, in that French chauvinism,The idea of around the West with Frau G. E. Scheyer."53
Paris as the center of creative energy, was so However Klee may have reacted to Kunstblatt1 s
firmly entrenched that even the intellectual elite article, he cannot have felt very positive about
had difficulty imagining worthwhile art being his prospects in America when it was written, as
produced elsewhere. Klee was the only contem¬ three years later, in May 1930, he wrote Galka
porary artist living outside France accorded such Scheyer that he was no longer as displeased
peer acclaim. That there were few French collec¬ "with over there as I have been till now."54 Much,
tors of Klee's work is what now seems predict¬ in fact, had occurred in the intervening years to
able. In fact, there were few French collectors of contribute to the expansion of Klee's reputation.
any modernist art. With notable exceptions, In early 1927, the Baroness Hilla von Rebay, yet
such as Dutilleul and Doucet, the French were another determined German woman and con¬
indifferent to the art being produced in their vinced apostle of modern art, had arrived in
own front yard. In contrast to Germany, where America. Rebay, like Dreier, was an artist herself,
there was a lively audience for modern art, and and had known Klee's work at least since the
museums and collectors interested in buying it, middle of World War I when her own work was
France displayed a kind of national disdain. The shown with his in Berlin at Der Sturm and in
Paris air that Duchamp had bottled was what Zurich in Dada-sponsored exhibitions. Rebay
had given birth to modernism and continued to combined Dreier's faith in the spiritual power of
sustain its growth; artists were allowed to inhale art with Scheyer's social abilities, and was per¬
its creative elixir less by any material support haps the most effective of the three. Within two
they received in France than by the collecting years of her arrival in America, she had appar¬
activities of Russians, Germans, Eastern Euro¬ ently interested Solomon R. Guggenheim in
peans, and Americans. If French society failed in forming a collection that might someday be¬
large measure to support the extraordinary art come museum-worthy, and was showing Kan¬
being produced on its own soil, it is littler won¬ dinsky and Klee to her wealthy friends in her
der that it offered small solace to an outsider, Carnegie Hall studio.55 Although Rebay's pri¬
and a German at that. mary concern was for Kandinsky and her lover,
While Klee's interest in France was keen, there Rudolf Bauer, and in spite of the fact that her
is almost no evidence that he had much curiosity faith was totally in abstract, or "non-objective,"
about the United States—at least during the art, she had a lifelong commitment to Klee. By
twenties. His chief contacts with America were 1939 when her dream of founding a museum
through Dreier and Scheyer, and although Galka was realized with the opening of the Museum of
filled her letters with bits of local color, Klee's Non-Objective Painting (the precursor to the
responses mostly had to do with sales, ship¬ present Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), the
ments, and like matters, leaving any commen¬ collection boasted sixteen works by Klee.56
taries on the imagined life of the United States Rebay's museum was hardly the first museum
to Lily. We know, however, that he read the of modern art in America, nor was it by any
monthly Das Kunstblatt, and it is reasonable to means the first to acquire and show the work of
assume that J. B. Neumann's article in a 1927 Paul Klee. Pressure for a museum devoted to
issue, "Die neue deutsche Kunst in New York," contemporary art had been collecting in diffuse
would have interested him, as it dealt with mat¬ ways since the Armory Show. The first, noble
ters with which he was familiar—Valentiner's attempt had been made by Dreier in 1920, but
German show of 1923, the Carnegie Interna¬ she had never been able to mobilize sufficient
tional of 1925 (in which he had participated), support to maintain permanent quarters. One
activities of the Societe Anonyme, and those of cannot help wondering how Dreier may have
Scheyer. If he read it, he might have been mildly felt if, in the midst of organizing her Brooklyn
entertained by the description of New York, and exhibition, she read Forbes Watson in The Arts
somewhat surprised that he had been realizing celebrating the opening of the Cloisters with
any sales at all from his American connections. this pious hope: "New York having gained a
museum of medieval art, may heaven send it a his studio one can hear his wife playing a Mozart

museum of modern art so that folks will see

sonata in the room below. Only in one corner are there -fJu. 9.
curiosities, a table littered with such ornaments as
what is going on in the world."57 It is also possi¬
ble that she suffered a twinge or two when A. E.
shells, a snake's egg, bits of dried moss, a pine cone, a
piece of coral, fragments of textiles, a couple of draw¬
if •

ings by the children of his neighbor, Feininger. These „. * s—

Gallatin, who had been a member of the Societe
Anonyme in 1923, opened his Gallery of Living serve to break the logical severity of the Gropius inte¬
rior and Bauhaus furniture—and perhaps also serve as
Art in December 1927, and in his 1930 catalog
catalysts to Klee's creative activity.62
remarked that it was a "matter of surprise that
hitherto no museum of this character had Two years after this meeting, Barr was ap¬
existed in the U.S., the most modern of all pointed director of the newly founded Museum
countries."58 of Modern Art. The exhibition program he initi¬
If Dreier had cause for some personal bitter¬ ated testifies forcefully to his admiration for Paul
Klee. The first three shows of the new museum (j
ness in the opening of Gallatin's museum, it was
nonetheless a step forward in the larger crusade largely established the coordinates of its inter¬
to bring modernism to America. Housed in ests—the first one being devoted to Cezanne,
■ Ti fO v ff-'- " 1 "■ '4 ' v .
rooms of New York University at Washington Gauguin, Seurat, and van Gogh, then only semi-
Square and open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., established old masters of modernism; the sec¬ 6; i6 JCft <v \ i j

the Gallery was informal and came to be re¬ ond to living Americans; and the third to the **** ***
garded by many American artists as the "neigh¬ School of Paris. The fourth exhibition, which
borhood museum." Its collection was very much opened in March 1930, declared the Museum's
interest in both sculpture and painting on an
/> WVx
k$i5fi \
Gallatin's personal choice, based on "thorough
investigation" in which only "two distinctions" international basis, showing the German A \JL>
prevailed: "between pictures well-painted and Wilhelm Lehmbruck; the Frenchman Aristide
the reverse."59 Any exclusions were deliberate, Maillol; the American Max Weber; and the Ger¬
even motivated by "sadistic pleasure . . . (Se- man Klee. Thus Klee was the first living Euro¬ ,0t cm-t
h
gonzac, late Derain)."60 Although the collection
became more broad-based over the years, it was
pean painter to receive a one-person exhibition
at The Museum of Modern Art; the next Euro¬
Ht ^
dir*. y. 7Lm
7
/witfr .’

always heavily oriented toward Cubism and the pean painter to be accorded the same treatment
School of Paris. Of the artists represented in one was Henri Matisse some two years later.
of its first exhibitions at the Brummer Galleries in While there is no question that Barr was a Klee
Fig. 11. Alfred H. Barr, Jr. (1902-1981). Notebook entry,
1929, all were French or working in Paris except enthusiast, this early exhibition at the Museum
Dessau, Germany, December 1927. The Museum of
Klee and seven contemporary Americans. Al¬ almost certainly would not have come about Modern Art Archives, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Papers
though Klee was represented by only two without the presence of J. B. Neumann in New
works, he was for a considerable period the only York and Barr's friendship with him. Neumann,
German in the collection, which eventually ad¬ who had opened a gallery in the city shortly after
mitted only Kandinsky, Wolfgang Paalen, Kurt Valentiner's German exhibition of 1923, had
Schwitters and Hans Hartung as additional art¬ shown Klee sporadically for years in Berlin—at
ists with German roots. Because Gallatin's mu¬ the gallery he operated in association with Al¬
seum was so available and because it continually fred Flechtheim—and even more occasionally in
had Klee's work on view in a choice context of New York. Neumann, who would become as
modernist masters, it was important in reinforc¬ selfless as a dealer can be in promoting Klee's
ing Klee's presence in America, but Klee's Amer¬ work, did not, by his own admission, fall in love
ican future was more significantly being pre¬ with Klee at first sight. According to his un¬
pared elsewhere in the late twenties. published memoirs, he had come to a profound
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., a young art historian teach¬ appreciation of Klee's work by the midtwenties,
ing at Wellesley College, was vitally interested in but showed it rarely in New York because of the
European modernism. During 1927-28 he lack of public understanding: "The United
made an extensive trip through Europe visiting States was," he said, "then virgin territory for
nearly every center of artistic activity. In early Klee."63 By 1930 he apparently felt the time
December 1927 he was at the Bauhaus, where had come to "launch the first major Klee exhibi¬
the frenetic pace of his studio visits seems to tion in America," and so, with his partner
have been both exhilarating and exhausting. Flechtheim, brought more than fifty works to
Jotted down in his notebook for December 7 are New York with the intention of showing them in
appointments with Gropius (also "Frau Gropius his gallery. But he realized that only a few hun¬
and House"), Feininger, Albers, and Klee, along dred people could see the gallery exhibition
with the notation: "7:45 gone mad and back to whereas several thousand might see it at the
Goldenes Beugel [his hotel]," accompanied by a Museum. When he proposed the show for the
silly drawing of his battered self (fig. 11). Not all Museum, Barr seems to have accepted with
the pages of Barr's notebook were dated, but it alacrity.
would appear that he visited Klee more than The exhibition was extensive, including sixty-
once, making at one point a fascinated in¬ three pictures from 1919 through 1930. For the
ventory of the idiosyncratic objects collected by first time an American audience would see the
the artist.61 Later, Barr recalled: already amazing range of Klee's work. Barr re¬
marked in the exhibition's catalog: "Nothing is
Klee, when one talks with him, seems the opposite of so astonishing to the student of Klee as his
eccentric, in spite of his amazing art. He lives in Dessau
infinite variety," and, referring to the most ab¬
in a house designed by Gropius as a machine a habiter
near the factory-like Bauhaus building. He is a smallish stract works such as Variations(1927; fig. 12), he
man with penetrating eyes, simple in speech and made a telling observation: "They have little to
gently humorous. While one looks over his drawings in do with Cubism for they are pure inventions
 ratherthan abstractions of thingsseen.. . .Here of him as anything else and if you don't mind my
are forms which live and breathe with convinc¬ being slightly paradoxical, he is not so much a
ing actuality though their like has never been Cubist, either. That is to say, he slips as lightly
seen." In the very same essay, Barr found it nec¬ away from solid forms as he does from all the
essary to defend Klee against charges of being other prosaic facts of earth." McBride's article
"too literary," and in evident response to purist concluded with a reprimand to his audience. "If
believers in abstraction, he pointed out that the Weber's work [the American painter, Max
means of painting, "surface texture or merely Weber, with whom Klee was exhibiting at the
formal composition," were not large enough for Modern] is not up to Klee's, then that," admon¬
Klee—that his art also insists on the right to ished McBride, is "your fault, gentle reader. It's
explore imagination and dream.64 What Barr because Weber has led a much more difficult life
observed in Klee, his extraordinary freedom, in America than Klee has led in Germany."68
came from the artists belief in the artmaking McBride's reprimand came out of his exas¬
process as the vehicle of content, which not only peration with the relative indifference of Amer¬
placed at his disposal all the elements of picture¬ icans to art, but it also reflected his recognition
making, but mandated their exploration. Be¬ of the outwardly flourishing support of painting
cause he understood line, color, and matiere to and sculpture in Germany. Despite the fact that
be themselves carriers of meaning, it made little the Depression of 1929 had greatly increased
difference whether they were employed in the popular support of the National Socialist party,
service of abstraction or representation. No the institutions and collectors of Germany were
other artist of his time was willing to move from in 1930 the most enlightened benefactors of
the completely nonfigurative to the figurative; current art in Europe. Flora Turkel-Deri's "Berlin
no one else so completely demonstrated that Letter" published in the May 3,1930, issue of Art
the making of the work can be the making of its News typifies the activity and optimism of the
expressive power, and in this his art held the key moment. She reported on the formation of a
to the dilemma of "subject" that was to become new periodical, Museum der Gegenwart, which
a preoccupying issue to the first generation of would describe "to a wide circle of readers the
American Post World War II painters. Klee would very lively activities of our modern museums,"
certainly have accepted as applicable to painting on a new modern annex to the Nationalgalerie,
T. S. Eliots words about poetry: "It is not the and on the organization of a society of collectors
'greatness,' the intensity, of the emotions, the of contemporary art, which by donating works
components, but the intensity of the artistic pro¬ to the Nationalgalerie, would enable that in¬
cess, the pressure so to speak, under which the stitution "to benefit by the initiative and pur¬
fusion takes place that counts."65 chasing power of a number of private art collec¬
Early events at The Museum of Modern Art tors" thus "greatly aiding the cause of contem¬
tended to elicit considerable press reaction, es¬ porary art." In the same letter she made some
pecially as contrasted with the relative apathy lengthy observations on an exhibition of fifty
that had been the lot of the Societe Anonyme, Klee drawings installed on the upper floor of the
and the Klee exhibition was no exception. The new modern annex, characterizing Klee as the
press not only put forward divergent views on artist "who has aroused almost more contro¬
the merits of Klee's art, but it differed widely as versy than any of the German modernists."69
to just who he was and how long he had been If Klee's lament, "the people are not with us,"
around. The critic for Art News sounded ag¬ delivered in his Jena lecture of 1924 was still true
grieved that "Klee is permitted to burst upon the in 1930, he had, nonetheless, as Turkel-Deri's
public almost as a complete surprise," and con¬ account implies, reached a wide audience and
cluded; "We have not been able to understand achieved considerable public recognition. Barr's
why he is considered one of the most important 1930 Museum of Modern Art Klee catalog tabu¬
artists working out of Paris."66 The Arts reviewer lated the museums holding his work; it listed
felt that despite "all the years of ardent promo¬ twelve German institutions, three Swiss, two
tion," he was not worthy of being called a American, and one Russian. In spite of the
painter, rather "a phenomenon of interest and ominous rumblings of the right—evident to at
influence" who supported "his subtle if none least one of Klee's friends, the art historian Carl
too stalwart gifts upon the consoling prop of the Einstein, who had written Klee in 1929: "The
non-visual."67 Henry McBride, who was one of Klee Capital must be made larger... are things
the best prepared commentators around, had still looking so amazingly reactionary in Ger¬
some insightful as well as curious things to tell many?"70—Klee's future at the beginning of the
his readers in the New York Sun. (Present-day century's fourth decade appeared to be in Ger¬
readers should be cautioned, however, that many. Since Klee was regarded as the standard-
when McBride was writing, "Cubism" was used bearer of German art, his fortunes in other
to describe almost all art with a tendency toward countries were followed with interest. A certain 95
the abstract.) With Kiplingesque gusto, McBride wary optimism informed Will Grohmann's
pronounced: "When Cubism came up like Cicerone article "Paul Klee in New York," which
thunder out of China across the bay, and the read: "Aftertwo big French exhibitions, the 'Mu¬
subject became a mere starting point for artists, seum of Modern Art' allows its first German
no one left it so far behind him as did Klee, show. Again it is Paul Klee who sets the pace."
Fig. 12. Paul Klee. Variations(Variationen[progressives the German," and he went on to point out the After describing the extent of the exhibition and
Motiv]), 1927 / 299 (Omega 9). Oil and watercolor on
many painters who vacillated between it and the excellence of the catalog, he ended: "It
canvas, 16 x 15% in. (40.6 x 40 cm). The Metro¬
politan Museum of Art, New York, The Berggruen Klee " 'straight'" painting, but "Not so Klee. He seems would be good fortune if Klee's success would
Collection, 1984 to have been born a Cubist. It is difficult to think come to the rest of Germany."71 Although Amer-
ican interest in German art was only slowly They further commented on the social position
widening, Klee was, as Grohmann pointed out, of the artist who "both ignores the public and
in the forefront—sometimes with somewhat craves its approval," and on the attitude that the
singular distinction. In the issue of the 1930 neglect and misunderstanding encountered by
Vanity Fair devoted to its nominees for the year's artists is held to "reflect adversely upon the
Hall of Fame, Klee's photograph was sand¬ cultural attainments of the people." Finally they
wiched between those of Henry Luce and Knute questioned whether "the American public is
Rockne.72 gradually being converted to the new in art and
Soon after the close of the Modern's Klee is this conversion, if taking place, adding to the
exhibition, the show Modern German Art number of those who are interested in pure
opened on April 18,1930, at the Harvard Society painting and sculpture?"73
for Contemporary Art, Cambridge, Massachu¬ The authors of the above attempted no an¬
setts, and Klee was the most prominently fea¬ swer. One might, however, read a type of re¬
tured artist. The catalog demonstrated that its sponse in some of Diego Rivera's remarks in the
assemblers were enthusiasts whose eyes were catalog introduction to the 1931 San Francisco
good and whose confusion was considerable. Blue Four exhibition, which he cosponsored
After informing its readers in an introduction with Galka Scheyer. Undoubtedly thinking of a
titled "Historical Background" that Klee, Kan¬ radical political as well as artistic conversion in
dinsky, and Marc had come together in the Blue America, Rivera wrote: "There are in Europe
Rider in 1903(1911 is correct), it shifted the date today expressions of art which are not decadent
in its individual discussion of Klee to 1906, and in but which are on the contrary anticipated [sic]
a sympathetically written commentary deduced works destined for a better organized world."
from "his affinity with primitive ornament" and Their authors, he continued, are men like the
"lunatic scratchings," that he was "an automatic Blue Four, "whose work contains all the science
paleolith." of great masters and all the freshness and genius
Of the ten works by Klee in the Harvard ex¬ of children. The artist-public of America should
hibition, four were borrowed from Valentiner, be especially interested in their work ... in
five from Neumann, and one from Jere Abbott, America an epoch of rapid development is be¬
Associate Director of The Museum of Modern ginning with great possibilities for art."74
Art. This list of lenders may be taken as a symbol Lincoln Kirstein's soberly written introduction
of the past and future progress of Klee's art in to the Harvard Bauhaus catalog understandably
America at the beginning of the decade of politi¬ made no reference to the present or future state
cal turmoil that would usher in World War II. As of art in America. Rather, it detailed the political
Valentiner in the early twenties had been one of dissension at the Bauhaus that had already been
the first to bring Klee before an American public, a factor in Klee's move to the Academy in Dussel-
so Neumann and The Museum of Modern Art dorf and indicated its strong anti-Communist
would be instrumental in the vast increase in his direction under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
exposure during the thirties. Between 1931 and About Klee, Kirstein wrote that he "has been
1935, there was not one year in which Klee's traduced by sensationalists. He is not obsessed
work did not figure prominently in an important by insanity at all." Kirstein was at least in part
group show, and, after Neumann's 1935 Klee referring to the common notion of Klee as a
exhibition, every succeeding year saw at least Surrealist. Typical of this attitude was the charac¬
one and often several ambitious shows devoted terization of Klee in the Braxton Gallery catalog
exclusively to Klee. of its Blue Four exhibition the year before as the
During the winter and spring of 1931, Klee "father of surrealism,"75 as well as popular press
was to be seen in the Societe Anonyme's In¬ commentary that in May 1931 had elicited a
ternational Exhibition Illustrating the Most Re¬ letter to the New York Times from Hilla Rebay
cent Development in Abstract Art at the Buffalo objecting to Klee's classification as a Surrealist,
Fine Arts Academy after an initial showing atthe somewhat murkily clarifying his position as "an
New School in New York City; in the Harvard intuitive painter who created masterpieces."76
Society for Contemporary Art's Bauhaus show, a Dreier, who explained modern art in her cata¬
version of which went to The Arts Club of Chi¬ log introduction to the Societe Anonyme exhibi¬
cago; in The Blue Four at the California Palace of tion as that which tends toward the abstract or
the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; and in Ger¬ toward greater simplification, would certainly
man Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of have agreed with Kirstein and Rebay in seeing
Modern Art. These exhibitions testify to an ex¬ Klee as outside Surrealism's burgeoning il¬
panded American interest in the modern move¬ lustrative proclivities. Her New School exhibition
ment, and, in the clairvoyant light of hindsight, put Klee in the company of thirty-six other artists
are replete with historical ironies. The American (representing ten countries and including, along
situation as it seemed at the time is assessed with her old European favorites, the young emi¬
with considerable accuracy in the 1933 book gres Arshile Gorky and John Graham). Con¬
The Arts in American Life. Its authors, Frederick vinced as ever of art's inevitable progress and
R Keppel and R. L. Duffus wrote: "It must be liberating spiritual power, Dreier spoke of Amer¬
admitted that for the overwhelming majority of ica in her lectures accompanying the exhibition
the American people the fine arts of painting as "the nation of the future because of its power,
and sculpture, in their non-commercial, non- vitality, and facility to shed the past more rapidly
industrial forms, do not exist"; nonetheless they than Europe." If it lagged behind Europe, then it
observed that "the growth in attendance at mu¬ was because of its devotion to materialism, and
seums and exhibitions . . . has been striking." American artists should bond together against
Fig. 13. Paul Klee. Maid of Saxony (Madchen aus Fig. 14. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Seated Woman,
Sachsen), 1922/132.Oil,and oil-primed muslin on gold 1927. Oil on wood, 5114 x 3814 in. (129.9 x 97.1 cm).
foil, on painted board, 1414 x 85/s in. (36 x 22.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of James
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, Galka Thrall Soby
Scheyer Blue Four Collection

this malevolent influence. As an example to apparently not quite lost its power to shock,
America, she most enthusiastically pointed to however; in the sampling of American reviews
Germany, where government at all levels sup¬ Barr appended to the article, there was a state¬
ported the most advanced art schools.77 ment by Milton S. Fox of the Cleveland Sunday
For all that Dreier felt that Barr's new museum News that of all the artists in the exhibition, Klee
(which had, in her view, usurped its very name had provoked the most vehement controversy.81
from its original usage by the Societe Anonyme In the exhibition catalog Barr had particularly
In 1920) was regressive in having shown nine¬ singled out Maid of Saxony (there titled Ma\
teenth-century art and overly biased toward the 1922; fig. 13) calling it "one of the finest Klees in
School of Paris, she cannot have failed to see color. . . similar in conception to much of Picas¬
that Barr shared her views about German sup¬ so's work of some five years later, specifically the
port of the arts. Although Barr noted in the now famous Seated Woman [1927; fig. 14]."82
opening sentence of the catalog introduction to He did so again in Museum der Gegenwart,
German Painting and Sculpture that "in matters declaring that it and the two watercolors lent by
of art Germany, France, England, Italy, America the Nationalgalerie in Berlin had been public
and other countries assume the paradoxical favorites. Neither Barr nor his German readers
position of standing with their backs toward one could have suspected that within eight years
another and their faces toward Paris," he was Twittering Machine (1922; p. 172), one of those
quick to point out that "however much modern watercolors lent by Berlin, would be part of the
German art is admired or misunderstood permanent collection of The Museum of Mod¬
abroad, it is certainly supported publicly and ern Art. Nor could they have guessed that 1931,
privately in Germany with extraordinary gener¬ the very year of the article, when Klee had one-
osity."78 He then devoted several paragraphs to person exhibitions in Dusseldorf, Hanover, and
this phenomenon, as well as reserving a sepa¬ Berlin, would mark the end of Klee's exposure in
rate section for the topic "Modern Art in Ger¬ Germany for seventeen years and the beginning
man Museums," and observed that "most sur¬ of nearly two decades that would bring a pro¬
prising is the alert attitude of German museums liferation of Klee exhibitions to the United
toward modern art."79 Appended to this section States.
was a list of over fifty (italicized in Barr's text) Only two years after this article was published,
museums whose holdings included advanced Barr was writing from Germany of the dismissal
painting and sculpture. from their posts of German museum directors 97
In the newly founded German magazine Mu¬ "who bought and hung too modern pictures,"
seum der Gegenwart, Barr had the opportunity and, he said, this was also "the fate of the pictures
to address a German audience directly. Report¬ themselves." This policy, he continued, "has now
ing on the Modern's exhibition, he wrote that rendered the progressive painter particularly vul¬
Klee particularly had made a deep impression on nerable. For example, Paul Klee and Oskar Moll
artists and collectors. Many visitors, Barr ob¬ have been removed from the Dusseldorf Acad¬
served, who had been indignant over Klee's emy."83 Indeed, by the time Barr unsuccessfully
work when it was shown the previous year at attempted to publish his reports in the still politi¬
the Museum, now found it marvelous.80 It had cally isolationist United States, Klee had already
 decided to return to his childhood home of Bern, of the last years."89
Switzerland.84 Along with other members of Josef Albers had, by then, been teaching at
what the Nazi propaganda machine character¬ the recently founded Black Mountain College in
ized asa "dictatorship" of art historians, museum North Carolina for nearly a year. His wife Anni
directors, dealers, and, "to their shame, a large Albers was Jewish, so his situation in Germany
number of artists" engaged in bringing about "a had been even more difficult than Klee's.
so-called international art language," Klee was Through the American architect Philip Johnson,
obliged to flee Germany.85 Although Klee was by one of whose earliest enthusiasms as a collector
nature and conviction not particularly gregari¬ was for Paul Klee, Albers's emigration to the
ous—neither a joiner nor politically involved— United States had been facilitated, and the post
hissudden forced removal to Bern and its circum¬ at Black Mountain College obtained. Albers re¬
stances were deeply shocking. His distress at mained at Black Mountain until 1949, when he
events in Germany was profound, and his sense left to become Chairman of the Department of
of isolation in the provincial city of Bern, after Design at Yale University. As a professor at the
years spent in international centers of artistic Bauhaus, and before that as a student, Albers
activity, nearly absolute. Such proto-art-brut had developed a deep admiration for both Klee
works as Ragged Ghost (1933; fig. 15), in all and Kandinsky. His teaching in America had a
probabilitya half-humorous self-portrait, in stark profound influence on several generations of
contrast to the exquisitely executed, majestic artists and very much reflected ideas he had first
paintings of the previous year's divisionist series, encountered through Klee and Kandinsky.
which had culminated in AdParnassum (1932; p. Painters as diverse as de Kooning, Kenneth
255), directly expressed both Klee sown troubles Noland, and Robert Rauschenburg were to hear
and his wider anxieties.86 him repeat the importance of the Klee/Kan¬ jt •rtrrm •

In Bern, virtually the only contact Klee had dinsky-derived concept: "Art is concerned with Fig. 15. Paul Klee. Ragged Ghost (Lumpengespenst),
with other artists was through occasional visits the how not the what . . . the performance— 1933 / 465 (J 5). Colored paste over watercolor on
how it is done—that is the content of art."90 paper, mounted on cardboard, 187/s x 13 in. (48 x
and letters. A considerable correspondence,
33.1 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
mainly sustained by Lily, was carried on with the It is somewhat ironic that Albers would not
Klees' former Bauhaus neighbors the Kan- have been appointed to Black Mountain if
dinskys, who were by this time in Paris. Lily and Katherine Dreier had had her way. When her
Nina Kandinsky wrote of domestic problems, nephew, Theodore Dreier, cofounder of the col¬
financial difficulties, and their fears of war—Lily lege, asked her advice, she opposed the choice,
offering the opinion that what was needed in preferring Werner Drewes, who had also been a
European politics was "a few clever women."87 student of Klee's. She seems, however, to have
When Klee and Kandinsky wrote, it was more amended her opinion rather quickly, as by 1934
often of professional problems and old friends. she was quite close to Albers—working with
One of their exchanges is especially interesting him, Drewes, Burgoyne Diller, Gorky, John
because it sets out Klee's view of his position so Graham, Harry Holtzman, and Paul Outerbridge
clearly, and, indeed, now reads very poignantly, on a project for an album of abstract prints.
as we know he spent the last five, immensely Although Dreier's print project fell through,
productive years of his life suffering from a fatal the call she had issued three years before for
illness. Concluding an explanation to Kandinsky artists to bond together against materialism was
of his reasons for not wishing to do anything being heeded in a multiplicity of ways. Artists,
further to help the French magazine Cahiers traditionally on the fringes of American society,
d'Art out of financial problems, Klee wrote: "I found the Depression-caused collapse of that
hope you have your health back. We need society to be both a leveler and a force toward
health—together with a minimum of material communal activity. As the plumber, the brick¬
support—in order to create. I have no optimism layer, and everyone else became unemployed,
except in creativity, and if it has to take place in the marginal became mainstream. Artists, like
total isolation, then basically it makes no other manual laborers, banded together to form
difference."88 the Unemployed Artists Group, later the Artists'
Other letters generally dealt with matters not Union, and in 1935 the Roosevelt Administra¬
quite so fundamental. Writing to Klee on De¬ tion responded by giving them jobs "at plumb¬
cember 16, 1934, Kandinsky congratulated him ers' wages" on the Federal Art Project of the
on the appearance of Will Grohmann's mono¬ Works Progress Administration. The story of the
graph on Klee's drawings, which, as it turned formation of close-knit artist groups, and of the
out, was less an occasion for celebration than it unprecedented sense of community gained dur¬
seemed. The book was almost immediately sup¬ ing the thirties, is well-known and has been
pressed by the Nazis, and relatively few copies recounted elsewhere, but it was in this context
were put into circulation. In fact, it would only that most of the young artists who came to be
98 reach a wide public in 1944 when it was re¬ known as Abstract Expressionists were forming
printed in English by Curt Valentin. In the same and testing their ideas. All of them came to
letter Kandinsky remarked on what a special reject American Social Realism and Regionalist
pleasure it was "in these wicked times" to hear painting; none of them was happy with the
from old friends and how happy they had been dogma and lack of human content of Geometric
to receive Lily's letters; he went on to tell Klee Abstraction; all of them were looking at ad¬
that they had also heard from the Arps, whose vanced European art.
good fortune was matched only by that of Anni Speaking of the period in early 1935 when
and Josef Albers. They had been, said Kandinsky, Gottlieb and Rothko cofounded a group called
"brilliantly rewarded for all the evil experiences "The Ten," Joseph Solman, one of its members,
 recalled: "We all admired Picasso, Matisse, Klee,
and the German Expressionists, many of whose
works we first became acquainted with at J. B.
Neumanns New Art Circle and later [at] Paul
Rosenberg and of course at The Museum of
Modern Art."91 Solman may have cited J. B. Neu¬
mann first because almost coincidental with the
formation of The Ten was the opening at Neu¬
mann's of a large Klee retrospective, the first
since the Moderns of five years before and the
earliest in a cluster of twenty Klee exhibitions
that would take place in the United States—
most of them in New York—between 1935 and
the retrospective Klee would again have at the
Modern in 1941. Although ideas picked up from
Klee do not surface in the work of either Gott¬
lieb or Rothko as early as 1935, they begin to do
so some three to four years later. With hindsight
we can see a parallel in the delicate automatist
calligraphy and translucent ground of Klee's Ab¬
stract Trio (1923; fig. 16), which was in Neu¬
mann's exhibition with such later Rothko water-
colors as an untitled work of 1944 (fig. 17).92
Although Gottlieb and Rothko rarely saw eye
Fig. 16. Paul Klee. Abstract Trio (Abstractes Terzeit), 1923 / 88. Watercolor and ink transfer drawing on wove to eye with contemporary criticism, on the occa¬
paper, bordered with gouache and ink, mounted on cardboard, 125/s x 19% in. (32 x 50.2 cm). The sion of the New Art Circle Klee exhibition they
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984
may have been in agreement with Margaret
Breuning of the New York Post, whose com¬
ments were reprinted in Art Digest a long with a
reproduction of Abstract Trio. Breuning called
Klee "an isolated, intense painter" whose works
"reveal. . . power to express in abstract pattern¬
ing strange echoes of emotion and experience.
He seems able to fuse this emotional content
with a play of color so that the whole painting is
an orchestration of one motif."93
Meanwhile Klee's work was not being ne¬
glected on the West Coast. In a letter dated July
29, 1935, Galka Scheyer wrote the Klees about
an exhibition that would open two days later in
Hollywood and subsequently travel to Oakland
and San Francisco.94 Scheyer described the
Hollywood gallery where the show was to open
as being run not by a dealer but by an artist,
which means that she was probably referring to
the Stanley Rose Gallery, run by the painter
Lorser Feitelson. By October when the exhibition
reached Oakland, where Klee was billed as "one
of the most celebrated ultra-moderns," the
Stanley Rose Gallery had been taken over by
Howard Putzel, a somewhat enigmatic young
man who was to be of major importance to the
developing artists of the New York School in the
early forties. During the two years Putzel re¬
Fig. 17. Mark Rothko (1903-1970). Untitled, 1944. Watercolor on paper, 27 x 40Vi in. (68.5 x 102.8 cm). The mained in Hollywood, he often showed the
Mark Rothko Estate work of Klee along with that of Miro, Masson,
Salvador Dali, Yves Tanguy, Stanley William Hay-
ter, and others; he also gave Klee a solo exhibi¬
tion in November and December of 1937. There
has been some question of where Putzel ob¬ 99
tained the pictures for his exhibitions, and it may
be that Scheyer was a source, despite the com¬
petition she apparently felt with Putzel. Not only
does she seem to have been involved with the
Stanley Rose Klee exhibition, but she had kept
up her contacts with the Arensbergs who knew
Putzel well through both his gallery and their
mutual close friend, Marcel Duchamp.
Scheyer's correspondence with the Klees dur-
 ing this time abounded with discussions of mer has pointed out, "a requirement imposed
prices and sales, but it also evinced Scheyers on the process of creating a picture,"98 but it had
concern for the welfare of her European friends. nothing at all to do with "abstracting because of
For years Scheyer had been suggesting that the the possibilities of making comparisons with
Klees visit America; in 1935, however, probably natural objects"; rather, it had to do with the
prompted by Lily's description of Klee's poor manipulation through pictorial relationships of
health as well as the alarming political situation opposing concepts, "light to dark, color to light
in Europe, she stepped up her efforts to per¬ and dark color, color to color, long to short,
suade them. Perhaps thinking that the prospect broad to narrow, sharp to dull, left to right,
of professional activity would make the idea above, below, behind in front ... if outside
more appealing, she wrote them on October 28, concepts such as 'catdog' show up within the
1935, that a professor from Mills College, whom scope of the pictorial . . . they are permissible.
Fig. 18. Paul Klee. Collection of Signs, Southern
she described as having "revered Klee's work for Only the substantial blurring resulting from out¬ (Zeichensammlung, Sudlich), 1924 / 214. Watercolor
years," had suggested that Klee might be inter¬ side concepts is forbidden."99 and ink, 1214 x 183/s in. (31.1 x 46.7 cm). Washington
Klee's fundamental, vastly ambitious drive University Gallery of Art, St. Louis
ested in teaching a summer course.95 Although
radical developments in Europe may have made was to get at the form-giving principles of
Klee slightly less aloof toward America, his nature, to make an art that would mirror the
health was far worse than Scheyer imagined and structure, complexity, and randomness of the
nothing came of the proposal. The professor in world. Like Blake, Leibniz, and Goethe, he was
question, "Salmonie" in Scheyers often eccen¬ fascinated with the idea of self-similarity, that
tric orthography, was the Orientalist Alfred "a kind of formula for man, earth, fire, water,
Salmony, a recent refugee from Nazi Germany air and all the circling forces might be found";
with whom Ad Reinhardt was to study at the yet, as Leo Steinberg remarked, he was always
Institute of Fine Arts of New York University in aware that there was "no one immutable reality
1944. If Salmony's efforts to bring Klee to Amer¬ available to detached contemplation."100 If his
ican failed, it is nonetheless likely that he minute analyses of nature led him to the notion
brought Klee's spirit and the example of his art that things might wear their irregularity in sur¬
to discussions of Oriental and Western art. prisingly orderly patterns, he nevertheless real¬
Klee's own feeling of kinship with Oriental art ized he could only "find parts . . . not the
is readily apparent throughout his work, as, for whole." Wallace Stevens had something of the
example, in Collection of Signs, Southern (1924; same notion when he wrote: "It was when the
fig. 18), shown in Neumann's 1935 exhibition. trees were leafless first in November / And their
Klee's occasionally expressed idea that he had blackness became apparent, that one first knew
something of the Orient within himself did not the eccentric to be the base of design."101 For
come solely from his admiration for the effects Klee, as later for the Americans, there could be
or techniques of Asian and Islamic art, but from no Euclidean simplicity in the expression of
the attraction that philosophies predicated on whatever unity might be out there. Most Amer¬
the unity of opposites would inevitably exert on icans were to find formal solutions to their ex¬
this artist who wished his work to reflect nature pressive dilemma in monumental, signature
"in its complementary oneness." Similar aspira¬ styles. Klee, however, practically plotted the
tions were at the heart of the creative efforts of chart of modernism. "In miniature," Seitz re¬
Abstract Expressionism; as Gottlieb noted when marked, "almost every formal solution and
speaking of Gorky, "what he felt. . .was a sense technical innovation of modern art can be found
of polarity, . . . that opposites could exist simul¬ in his watercolors and oils."102 Like another mys¬
taneously within a body, within a painting or tic, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Klee believed that
within an entire art."96 "Every hose fits every hydrant in the transmis¬
"Art," Klee declared, "is a likeness of cre¬ sion of the heavenly waters."103
ation," and as such should grasp the object, The unique diversity of Klee's art was ac¬
whether man, animal, tree, landscape, or the knowledged by Barr in the catalog of his enor¬
world, within the totality of cosmic flux. This mously influential 1936 exhibition Cubism and
belief was at the core of what William Seitz Abstract ArtW4 Although Barr pointed out in his
called Klee's "naturalism," which was, he said, preface that European abstraction had long
"very closely related ... to the New York paint¬ been available in America, particularly through
ers' organicism," defined by Seitz "as the highest the efforts of Stieglitz, Eddy, and Dreier, he
possible regard, sometimes amounting to nonetheless felt a sorting-out process was nec¬
deification, of the creative powers of both man essary, and Klee showed up under three dif¬
and nature.''97 For Klee, as similarly for the Amer¬ ferent classifications: Abstract Expressionism in
icans, this psychic identification with the cre¬ Germany; Abstract Dadaism; and Abstract
ative process itself imposed the moral imper¬ Tendencies in Surrealist Art. At the end of the
100 ative to reject formalism in favor of the "powers year, in another exhibition. Fantastic Art, Dada,
that do the forming." While most of the Amer¬ Surrealism, which had almost as much impact
icans found their mature styles in nonrepresen- on the New York art world as the Cubism show,
tational modes, it was not out of a program¬ Barr showed twenty Klees in the section headed
matic rejection of figuration, but issued from an 20th Century Pioneers.105
intensive search to body forth the transient ener¬ Without doubt, most of the painters who
gies of the world. As Klee put it, "the formal would later make history as the New York School
element must blend with one's philosophy of saw Barr's two exhibitions. And all who saw
the universe." them would have been interested in what Art
Abstraction for Klee was, as Jurgen Glaese- Front, the publication of the Artists' Union, had
to say about them. Charmion von Wiegand's kept Klee on near-continuous view in New York
review of Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism during the last two years of the thirties.
strongly reflected the left-wing,Marxist views of Feininger, who had fled Germany for New York,
both the magazine and most of its readers. reported in a birthday letter of December 7,
Within this context, however, she made acute 1938, to Klee, "his dear friend and Blue Brother,"
observations on the various styles of the artists that there had just been two big, simultaneous
represented; while she called the practitioners exhibitions of his work (organized by Valentin
of illusionist Surrealism "chromo illustrators," and Nierendorf) and that they "were heavily
she had particularly high praise for Klee, whose attended especially by the young generation of
Mask ofFear(1932; p. 261) is prominently illus¬ artists who were untiring visitors and showed
trated on the first page of her article. Von great enthusiasm for the work," as they had
Wiegand characterized Klee along with Kan¬ also, Feininger said, for the exhibition Bauhaus
dinsky and Grosz as "exiles from the impres¬ 1919-1928 that had just opened at The Mu¬
sionist camp" who "have contributed vitally to seum of Modern Art.
the Surrealist movement and in some respects Feininger's account of the Bauhaus show is a
overshadow it," in Klee's case through his "ironic restrained meditation on the unexpected turn
and exquisitely refined' line." And she added: their lives had taken, and must have deeply
"Certainly neither Hans Arp with his sensuous moved the sick and isolated artist in Bern when
abstractions . . . nor Miro with his lively mor- he read:
ganic [sic] microbes moving precisely across
In Dessau on Dec. 7, 1926, was the memorable cele¬
wide color spaces has the tremendous penetra¬
bration of the new establishment of the Bauhaus.
tion of Klee, whose Mask of Fear compels atten¬ Yesterday on the 6th of Dec. 1938, 12 years, two days
tion by its primitive magic force united with the after the celebration in Dessau ... the Bauhaus ex¬
utmost civilized sophistication."106 hibition formally opened here in New York in the
rooms of the Modern Museum, with the participation
Of the twenty Klees in the Surrealist show,
of the artistic and social elite of the city; Gropius was
eight had been borrowed from Daniel-Henry there . . . Herbert Bayer . . . Albers . . . Breuer,
Kahnweiler, by then Klees exclusive dealer in Moholy, Schawinsky . . . yes, it made me nearly sick
Europe. But being Klees sole agent in Europe with emotion. . . . Your paintings, watercolors, draw¬
did not seem to be as rewarding as having that ings, your workshop experiments, your book and
much else that you, dear Klee, created are over here—
position in America, where contention for the
glowing from the white walls.109
role was very warm, largely due to the competi¬
tion engendered by two recent German refu¬ Indeed, the emigration of Klee's work to
gees, Karl Nierendorf and Curt Valentin. The America was a frequent topic in the Klee corre¬
two not only made life difficult for one another, spondence of the last years of the thirties, and it
vying for the right to represent Klee in America, was a phenomenon that evidently brought both
but they also caused problems for J. B. Neu¬ pain and gratification. Valentin recognized the
mann and, to a lesser extent, Marian Willard. Klees' ambivalent feelings in a letter to Lily of
The complications of the situation and the com¬ March 17,1939, in which he said: "My 'leiblings-
plaints of the various actors in it are documented bild' Around the Fish [p. 217] from Dresden is in
in correspondence with Lily Klee and others. The Museum of Modern Art," and, to comfort
Nierendorf carried off the prize, at least officially. her, added: "Don't fret about it, it is much safer
In a letter of April 6, 1938, to Duncan Phillips, on this side of the ocean." Almost exactly a year
who in the late thirties and early forties was later, on March 14, 1940, Lily wrote to Valentin
actively buying Klees (nine of the thirteen in The that although the wholesale selling by German
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., were ac¬ museums had saddened them, she was very
quired during this period), Nierendorf explained excited and moved that the wonderful Vocal
"the Klee situation" in suspiciously selfless Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber (1922; p. 173)
terms: "I made a contract with him such as no was in the harbor of Antwerp and she consid¬
art dealer in the world would do. Regardless of ered it great luck that "this art is out of the
what sales I might make, I guaranteed Klee an barracks square and will steam into a free
amount each year upon which he could live well land.''110
and work without care for his material wel¬ Three months after Lily's letter to Valentin, on
fare."107 There is no question that Nierendorf June 29, 1940, Klee died of scleroderma, and in
had the edge, but none of the other dealers the fall of the year Curt Valentin's Buchholz Gal¬
withdrew from the field, and important Klee lery, in association with the Marian Willard Gal¬
exhibitions were subsequently held by Valentin lery, held a memorial retrospective that included
and Marian Willard. Nor did Nierendorfs con¬ a hundred works covering the years from 1913
tract do away with direct contacts between Klee to 1939. The exhibition catalog, which con¬
and the rival dealers. It equally seems not to have tained a preface by James Johnson Sweeney,
wholly prevented negotiations for the acquisi¬ stressed the extent of Klee's presence in Amer¬
tion of pictures as is witnessed in a letter from ica, naming over fifty American collections in
Valentin to Lily Klee of November 29, 1939, in which works not included in the exhibition were
which he asked Frau Klee to intervene with to be found, as well as noting sixteen pictures
Kahnweiler to reduce the price of a painting he that had formerly been in German museums. In
wished to buy.108 a review of the exhibition in the October 12 issue
However Klee's various American dealers may of Art News, Jeannette Lowe remarked that al¬
have quarreled among themselves, each of most all the lenders were American, "an indica¬
them did a great deal to present Klee's art to the tion of widespread interest in his [Klee's] work,"
American public; and collectively their activities and observed that "his influence has been felt in
American abstract painting and among those tions)'—is one in which the dependence of
painters who consciously or unconsciously are mass on gravitation is eliminated as it is in the
striving for the approach of the primitive." It was, free movement of a body whose weight is ex¬
she added, "interesting to speculate to what actly counterbalanced by the weight of water
extent Klee's work will be important in the fu¬ displaced by it. . . . He employs that domination
ture." Her guess was that "it is his method which over time first achieved by the prehistoric artist."
will gain in importance."111 Hayter also emphasized the importance of one
Lowe's guess was close to the mark. At least of Klee's methods, observing that "Klee, more
one would-be painter of the period, Clement perhaps than any artist of his time, relied on
Greenberg, remembered in 1984 that "he automatism"; yet, said Hayter, he practiced it
couldn't see abstract painting" until "coming with an "extreme degree of control," quoting
acfoss something like Klee's Twittering Ma¬ Klee himself: "To continue merely automatically
chiner"112 Greenberg's memory is borne out by a is as much a sin against the creative spirit as to
not-totally laudatory piece he wrote on Klee a start work without inspiration."114 One is re¬
few months after the close of the Buchholz- minded of Pollock's later statement: "It seems
Willard exhibition in the May-June 1941 issue of possible to control the flow of paint ... I deny
Partisan Review, where he observed that "Klee's the accident."115
painting . . .embodies even better than Picas¬ Hayter's published observations on Klee un¬
so's the transition from representational to ab¬ questionably reflect ideas he shared with the
stract painting. . . . Klee was not interested in artists who came to work in his studio, among
the appearances of objects as such and did not them David Smith, while Hayter was still in Paris,
derive from appearances the main impulse to and in New York in the forties, Motherwell,
paint." He used appearances, Greenberg said, Rothko, Gottlieb, and Pollock. Hayter's notion
"as one uses the sound of a word in making that "the influence thing is rather a critic's the¬
poetry." As Miro and Masson had before him, ory" is not, however, to be discounted.116 Cer¬
Greenberg found the brilliance of Klee's art in his tainly in the New York art world of the forties,
"atmosphere without dimensions," in which the there was what Robert Motherwell has called
elements of design are "almost temporal,"113 "an underlying network of awareness." The in¬
Greenberg was not alone in remarking the fluence of Picasso and Miro, each of whom had
special qualities of Klee's space and line. Stanley recently had large exhibitions at The Museum of
William Hayter, whose graphic workshop Atelier Modern Art;117 that of Mondrian, iterated by his
17 was a focus for New York artists during the presence in New York; and Surrealism, rein¬
first half of the forties, was a long-time admirer forced by the war-caused immigration of many
of Paul Klee. In an article called "Paul Klee: of its leading members—all contributed to the
Apostle of Empathy," Hayter wrote: "Klee's bubbling, alchemical brew of ideas from which
space—'spatial organization through three- each of the Americans would draw. Hayter, a
dimensional energies (fish swimming in all direc¬ nondidactic, accomplished artist, on intimate

Fig. 19. Paul Klee. Room Perspective with Inhabitants Fig. 20. Pablo Picasso. The Artist's Salon, rue la Boetie, 1919. Graphite on paper, 24 x 1914 in. (61 x
(Zimmerperspektive mit Einwohnern), 1921 / 24. Wa- 49 cm). Whereabouts unknown
tercolor over oil transfer drawing on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 19 x 12/2 in. (48.5 x 31.7 cm).
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Fig. 21. Paul Klee. Rehearsal with Props (Stelleprobe), Fig. 22. Matta (born 1912). Eronisme, 1943. Oil on canvas, 23% x 31/2 in. (60 x 80 cm). Private collection, Paris
1934 / 156 (R 16). Zulu pencil and colored paste on
untreated cotton, 9Vs x 5'/2 in. (25 x 14 cm). Where¬
abouts unknown
terms with every phase of European twentieth- memories," and whose aim was to create an art
century art, was a brilliant and articulate the¬ of "cosmic world feeling" able to express his
oretician, empathetic to "the chaps" who came Bergsonian sense of duration—"the present as
to work with him—in short, the perfect foil for the invisible progress of the past gnawing into
discussion and practice. the future."
In the interchange of ideas at Hayter's, Klee's The Picasso-Klee dialectic, especially in rela¬
works occupied a significant place. Hayter has tion to the New York School, is so often set up
spoken of the "tremendous interest" of Mother- that a brief digression touching but one of its
well and Rothko in Klee,118 and in a recent inter¬ many aspects may be in order.121 In a com¬
view, a question about the possible influence of parison of Klee's Room Perspective with Inhabi¬
Klee on Pollock elicited this response: tants (1921; fig. 19) with Picasso's Artist's Salon,
Paul Klee without any doubt. I thought at one time rue la Boetie (1919; fig. 20), the similarity of
that Paul Klee was a major influence, as he was both in motifs is immediately apparent. In Klee's water-
the case of Motherwell and in the case of Mark Roth¬ color it is the painter's family apartment in
ko, surely. And Bill Baziotes who was with us quite a
Weimar; its inhabitants, the painter himself and
lot. There was a time when Pollock was quite obviously
understanding some of the implications of Paul Klee. I his wife and child. Picasso's drawing shows the
think that is rather important because Klee was a man painter's parlor in Paris peopled by his wife Olga,
who covered an enormous amount of territory from Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, and Clive Bell. Both
point of idea. Fie also made suggestions in slight
artists have deliberately, with conscious humor,
things which you could follow and go farther with,
subverted traditional perspective, but for dif¬
which would challenge you and propose things to
you. Perhaps more so than people like Matisse and ferent ends. Picasso's drawing is a dialogue with
Picasso who took a thing and more or less terminated the visible—among other things a demonstra¬
it, destroyed it if you like. Very beautiful, but very tion of the artist's power to cause his guests to
destructive.'19
assume a precarious perch on his parquet floor.
Hayter's point is well taken, for deeply as the Klee's watercolor engages the invisible in a
Americans admired Picasso, they often found negation of the integrity of matter. The comfort¬
his weight as oppressive as Miro and Masson able living room becomes a kind of domestic
had earlier. Picasso's art is physical, tied to the wind tunnel to eternity, its inhabitants and their
world of sensory experience, even auto¬ objects dematerialized in the flux of time and
biographic, and never, except when specifically space. Both works play with illusions of recessive 103
conceived as decoration, nonfigurative. What space; but the coordinates of Picasso's organiza¬
enables one to speak of the artists of the New tion are felt to be stable, whereas those of Klee
York School as a group, despite their very dif¬ one senses as shifting. In such later works as
ferent mature styles, derives from their common Rehearsal with Props (1934; fig. 21), space as a
drive to create tragic, metaphysical art, of, as field of forces is more abstractly stated by Klee.
Pollock said, "organic intensity—energy and In small format, such Klees are very close to
motion made visible—memories arrested in some paintings by Matta—for instance Ero-
space."120 It is this which links them most closely nisme{1943; fig. 22)—who spoke ofthe spaces
with Klee, who spoke of being "abstract with of his own pictures as "non-Euclidean . . .where
all the ordinates and coordinates are moving in have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean
themselves because the references of the 'wall' it as a compliment, but it was. It was a fine
of the space are constantly changing. They are compliment."125
not parallel to a Euclidean cube to which most Opportunities to see Klee's work during the
previous painting has referred." Matta went on forties were abundant. The decade opened with
to explain how this kind of space applied to the big Willard-Valentin exhibition, and in the
Pollock, "who gave a picture of the world in a following year The Museum of Modern Art held
series of moves and shocks, actions and repul¬ a memorial retrospective that subsequently trav¬
sions. Some of my pictures," Matta observed, eled throughout the country. In New York,
"might be thought of as details that could be Nierendorf was "blanketing the waterfront" in
placed in a square inch of his pictures."122 the 1941-42 season with five successive one-
Specific resemblances between Klee's art and man shows with such apparent success that
that of the first group of Abstract Expressionists Rosamond Frost reported at the end of the fifth,
are few (with the exception of Gottlieb) and intheJune-July 1942 issue of Art News: "Atten¬
largely limited to the first half of the forties, dance broke records, catalogues had to be re¬
when the Americans were groping toward their printed up to four times, for to begin to know
mature styles. Yet Klee's conceptual base, in Klee is comparable to embarking on the opium
close coincidence with theirs, led him to formal habit." In her long review, Frost touched on
Fig. 23. Paul Klee. Picture Album (Bilderbogen),
solutions that anticipated many of their own. many points that had relevance to artists then in
1937 / 133 (Qu 13). Oil on canvas, 2314 x 22 in. (59 x
Klee's frequent use of an equally weighted com¬ New York. The early imagery of Baziotes, 56 cm). The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
positional structure, which was later to be a Stamos, Newman, and Rothko was full of allu¬
distinctive characteristic of mature Abstract Ex¬ sions to genetic beginnings and biological
pressionism, was remarked as early as 1938 by growth that were very close to much of Klee.
Robert Goldwater in Primitivism and Modem Frost described TheFruit(1932; fig. 25) in words
Painting. Goldwater found "characteristic" of that expressed the aspirations of many of the
Klee his "use of a close all-over pattern made up New York painters: "His message is profound,
either of dots or a minute linear scheme which even metaphysical, expressing ideas attempted
the eye cannot follow in detail and designed in only in poetry. Take The Fruit with ... its hidden
such a way that the eye has equal and yet exact core of light, and its intricate life-thread which
demands on its attention from the whole pic¬ travels from the blossom through the seed and
ture surface, thereby creating a tremendous on to the next planting." Without naming it,
strain.''123 Among Goldwater's illustrations was Frost caught the automatist character of Klee's
Picture Album (1937; fig. 23), whose primi¬ line, calling it "the most interesting and varied in
tivistic imagery as well as its structure would modern art. Sometimes . . . [it] has no end com¬
have interested artists such as Gottlieb, Rothko, ing back on itself after turnings and wanderings
Newman, and Pollock. . . . the eye unconsciously goes after it, makes a
The "allover" method of composition was, as pilgrimage through the picture."126 Mark Tobey,
Goldwater remarked, characteristic of Klee, but by then working in his "white writing" tech¬
it assumed many forms; he might as well have nique, had already picked up on possibilities
illustrated Sacred Islands (1926; p. 224) or Vari¬ offered by Klee's line; and it is not difficult to
ations (fig. 12), both of which were first seen in imagine that it was beginning to register with
New York in 1930. Only in the last three years of Jackson Pollock as well.127
his life did Klee work with anything like unifor¬ Indeed, in the winter of 1942, Klee's auto¬
mity of style. His pictures became larger, line lost matist method of getting a picture started was
its character as edge or contour to become both brought to Pollock's attention by Robert Mother-
structure and sign, and the allover composition well at Matta's instigation. Matta's "Oedipal rela¬
Fig. 24. Paul Klee. Heroic Roses (Heroische Rosen),
dominated. Pictures of this type, among them tion to the Surrealists" brought him to the idea
1938 / 139 (J19). Oil on burlap, 26% x 20% in. (68 x
Heroic Roses (1938; fig. 24), on view at Nieren- of getting together a group of American artists 52 cm). Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,
dorf's in the early forties, were less available in who might "make a manifestation" that would Dusseldorf
New York prior to the end of the war than they show up the Surrealists. Although the proposed
were to become thereafter, when their kinship group project never came off, Motherwell and
with the maturing styles of the gestural side of Baziotes met with Pollock, de Kooning, Jerome
Abstract Expressionism would become evident. Kamrowski, and Peter Busa to explain "the
In the survey "Six Opinions on What Is Sublime in whole Surrealist thing in general and the theory
Art" published in The Tiger's Eye of December of automatism in particular." Motherwell later
1948 (whose respondents included Motherwell recalled his astonishment at how "intently" Pol¬
and Newman), A. D. B. Sylvester chose Klee as lock listened as he explained the way "Klee and
his subject, writing: "In a late Klee every point of Masson made their things," even inviting him
arrival at once becomes a point of departure. back to continue the discussion.128 How Pollock
The journey is unending. . . . Composition is later used the idea of automatism is history. One
distributed equably anywhere [s/c], content ab¬ might, taking liberties with the spirit of Paul
sorbs experience from everywhere—both as Klee, find in Pollock's achievement a realization
agglomeration of distinct memories and as of what Klee in 1902 felt should have been the
elucidation of common, germinal elements endeavor of Michelangelo, who, he said,
and movements of the remembered physical "should have baroquised the Gothic . . . such a
world."124 Two years after Sylvester's appraisal of transformer is lacking."129
Klee, Jackson Pollock would say of a negative The principle of automatism was very much in
Fig. 25. Paul Klee. The Fruit {Die Frucht), 1932 / 44. Oil
response to his work: "There was a reviewer a evidence in New York toward the end of 1942 on burlap, 22 x 28 in. (55.8 x 71.1 cm). Collection
while back who wrote that my pictures didn't with the nearly simultaneous openings of the Marianne Lohan, Chicago
exhibition First Papers of Surrealism at the Pollock. Another rotating picture was Flat Land¬
Whitelaw Reid mansion and of Peggy Gug¬ scape (1924; fig. 29), its subtly graded horizon¬
genheim's new gallery, Art of This Century. Klee's tals of red, rust-red, and red-violet prefiguring,
work was to be found in both places, and was, in although in small format, Rothko's mature work.
fact, a special feature of Frederick Kiesler's "au¬ According to Kenneth Noland, Rothko and
tomatic method of showing paintings" in his Gottlieb had first become interested in Klee's
installation at Guggenheim's gallery. As de¬ color through Milton Avery and were aware of
scribed by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Kiesler's Klee its various uses in Klee by the time of the Art of
machine was part of a "violent hanging," in This Century exhibition.132
which works by Klee were mounted on a mech¬ The Klees displayed on what Kiesler called his
anized belt. "By pressing a button," Kaufmann "paternoster" were on more or less permanent
said, "the visitor operates it. Each Klee appears view. They were part of Guggenheim's own col¬
and halts a short while before the next one rolls lection and would have been especially familiar
in with a clangor and grind. . . . Harried in time to the Americans for whom the gallery played an
and space, the visitor . . . feels as if subway important role. Guggenheim's assistant was
doors were forever just closing on what the Howard Putzel, who in the previous decade had
artist was about to say to him."130 If Kaufmann recognized Klee on the West Coast. On Putzel's
was annoyed by the installation, it held certain advice Guggenheim put Pollock under con¬
advantages for others, as Emily Genauer re¬ tract and became Rothko's representative.133
ported in the New York World-Telegram, "the Baziotes, Hofmann, Motherwell, Pollock, Roth¬
machine which rotates the pictures by Klee al¬ ko, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Clyfford Still had
lows you ten seconds in which to study each their first one-man shows under Guggenheim's
one. For most Klees that's just about right aegis. Since she was married to Max Ernst, her
too."131 gallery became a meeting place for the Sur¬
Genauer's opinion notwithstanding, some of realist emigres, as well as for the New York
those revolving Klees would have struck a re¬ artists.
sponsive chord in Gottlieb, Newman, Rothko, While the Americans were interested in the
and Pollock. Klee's Male and Female Plant (1921; Surrealist premise that the probing of dream
fig. 26), in particular, is an image very near to the and the unconscious was the means to a deeper
concerns of the New York painters. Its blurred projection of reality, they were put off by Sur¬
and spotted surface combines with tentacled realism's illusionist, academic side. Nor could
plant "machinery" in a fusion of sexuality and they accept what seemed Surrealism's antith¬
generation that suggests the beginnings of life. esis, "pure" geometric abstraction. They needed
Indeed, it is close to much of their early work, a mediating principle. In 1944 Sidney Janis de¬
such as Newman's The Blessing (1944; fig. 27). fined the problem while softening its edges
Klee's The Magic Garden (1926; fig. 28), also a when he wrote: "Although Abstraction and Sur¬
"ten second" painting, does not immediately realism are considered counter-movements in
bring to mind the work of any of the Americans, twentieth-century painting, especially by the
yet its scratched, densely layered surface, simul¬ painters themselves, tendencies in both parallel
taneously asserting the flatness of the support each other and at times overlap so that there is a
while suggesting depths of time in which imag¬ fusion of elements from each."134 The polarities
ery is both buried and disclosed, held implica¬ of what Janis called "these apparently antip¬
tions for the future work of at least Rothko and odal" modes were symbolized in New York by

Fig. 26. Paul Klee. Male and Female Plant (Weibliche Fig. 27. Barnett Newman (1905-1970). The Blessing,
und mannliche Pflanze), 1921 / 76. Oil transfer draw¬ 1944. Oil crayon and wax crayon, 251/2 x 193/s in.
ing with watercolor on paper, 83A x 6V2 in. (22.2 x (64.8 x 49.2 cm). Collection Mrs. Barnett Newman
16.5 cm). Collection Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg,
New York
 Fig. 29. Paul Klee. Flat Landscape (Ebene Landschaft), 1924/134. Gouache on Ingres paper, mounted on Fig. 28. Paul Klee. The Magic Garden (Zaubergarten),
cardboard, 714 x 1014 in. (18.5 x 27 cm). Private collection 1926 / 141. Oil on gypsum-plaster-filled wire mesh,
mounted in wood frame, 2014 x 165/s in. (50.2 x 42
cm). Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, The
the physical presence of the Surrealists and nents had returned to Europe, and its useful Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Mondrian. Klee's presence was only virtual, but ideas had been assimilated into advanced Amer¬
it was widespread and constant, bracketing the ican painting. Klee, however, was as visible a
decade. After the flurry of Klee exhibitions at the presence as he had been earlier in the decade,
beginning of the forties, he was to be seen in at but now his late, larger-scaled gestural work
least one solo exhibition peryearfrom 1943 until with its prominent use of heavy black line was
his third and largest retrospective at The Mu¬ far more available than it had been during the
seum of Modern Art in 1949. Not only was his war. The visual parallel between Klee's work of
work on nearly constant view at Nierendorf's, this type and the painting of Franz Kline is ob¬
but in the midforties it was the subject of a great vious, but the claim that the impact on Kline of
many publications: in 1944, the translation of
his Pedagogical Sketch Book and a catalog of his
graphic work prefaced by James Thrall Soby; in
1945, an expanded edition of the Modern's 1941
catalog, a translation of Grohmann's 1934draw-
ings book, and a Klee issue of Cahiers d'Art. And
there were many more.
Sidney Janis reported on the impact of Klee's
presence in 1944 in words that bring back
Greenberg's remark: "Whether they were con¬
scious of it or not everyone was learning from
Paul Klee." Janis who had gone all over America
researching his book Abstract and Surrealist Art
in America, found that "a realization emerges
perhaps a little unexpectedly ... if there is any
artist after Picasso, the character of whose work
runs through twentieth-century American paint¬
ing .. . like a recurring theme, it is Klee."135
Motherwell recently recalled that Janis had told
him much the same thing. It "makes sense,"
Motherwell reflected, "because Klee can be ad¬
106 mired equally by one with an 'abstract' orienta¬
tion and by someone else with a 'Surrealist'
orientation. Moreover, he fitted perfectly the
idea that automatism was the road to one's
personal iconography, without, at the same time
(as some of the official Surrealists did) ignoring
'painterly' considerations."136
Fig. 30. Paul Klee. Injured (Verletzt), 1940 / 316 (H 16).
For artists who found their mature styles after
Black paste on paper, mounted on cardboard, 163/s x
the period Motherwell refers to, Surrealism was 115/e in. (41.7 x 29.5 cm). Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul
less an issue. By the late forties its emigre propo¬ Klee Stiftung
 The Museum of Modern Art's 1949-50 Klee
exhibition "was immediate and decisive"137
should perhaps be viewed with skepticism.138 It
is, however, inarguable that Klines stylistic shift
between 1947 and 1950 was coincidental not
only with the Modern's exhibition but also with
several important exhibitions at Nierendorf's
and at Valentin's Buchholz Gallery. And a com¬
parison of Klee's Injured (1940; fig. 30) and Ket-
tledrummer (fig. 2), both in the 1949 exhibition,
with Kline's black-and-white bar style of 1950 is
persuasive.
Another link to Klee in Kline's shift to abstrac¬
tion came through Bradley Walker Tomlin,
Fig. 31. Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974). Figurations of whose influence has been cited as important to
Clangor, 1951. Oil, gouache, and tempera on unsized
Kline during 1949.139 Tomlin, whose first one-
burlap, 48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm). © 1980
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc., New
man show in New York was at the Anderson
York Galleries in 1923, had probably known Klee's
work longer than any other New York painter,
although he did not begin to incorporate dis¬
tinctly Kleelike calligraphy and glyphs into his
painting until his own conversion to abstraction
around 1947. The plot thickens if we consider
that Gottlieb believed Tomlin's use of abstract,
cryptic signs and motifs such as letters, arrows,
and crosses to have been borrowed from him;
there is little question that Klee's use of the same
symbols had been a source for Gottlieb himself.
To a degree Gottlieb's art provides a formal
bridge between the color-field and gestural
sides of New York painting. Klee, whose own
work ran the gamut between these extremes, is
less subsumed in Gottlieb's mature painting
than in that of any of the other "first generation"
Americans. Perhaps the range of Gottlieb's styl¬
istic accommodations accounts for the fact that
Klee-related elements appeared in his art
throughout his career as, for instance, in Figura¬
tions ofClangor( 1951; fig. 31), the composition
of which is close to such late Klees then in New
York as Red Vest (1938; fig. 32).140
The implications of Klee's art extend well
beyond those it held for painters who reached
artistic maturity around 1950. Echoes of it reso¬
nate in the work of such diverse artists as Cy
Twombly, Jasper Johns, and even Sol LeWitt.
Kenneth Noland freely acknowledges that Klee's
work was an important source, and much of
Fig. 32. Paul Klee. Red Vest (Rote Weste), 1938. Col¬
Noland's early work, such as Red Space X Vibra¬
ored paste on burlap, 251/2 x 17 in. (65 x 43 cm).
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf tions = Combustion (1951-52; fig. 33) bears
this out.141 Noland was particularly interested in
Klee's color, which he has called "a fantastic
language" with a range "the others didn't have."
More unexpectedly, he singled out Klee's space
as a remarkable aspect of his art; "in Klee there
is a projection of size that's larger than it is small.
. . . It's an enormous space."142
It is beyond the scope of this essay to compre¬
hend in any detail the interaction of Klee and
American art after midcentury; however, an ob¬
servation Noland made about his desire to get
back to the United States in 1948 after a year
spent studying in Paris is relevant: "They [the
French]," he said, "knew about Picasso very
much and about Matisse and Miro, but they
knew nothing about Paul Klee or Mondrian.
Fig. 33. Kenneth Noland (born 1924). Red Space x
And over here we had known about Mondrian
Vibrations = Combustion, 1951-52. Oil on board,
301/2 x 211/2 in. (77.4 x 54.6 cm). Collection Harry and Klee and assumed that they were of equal
and Christa Noland stature with the so-called French School of
 Painting."143 Noland's observation is affirmed by long, complex generative process, but there can
the French critic Michel Seuphor, writing for the be no doubt that Klee's art played a role in its
1951 publication Modern Artists in America, evolution. John Ferren, one of the participants in
edited by Robert Motherwell and Ad Reinhardt: that process, described some of its particulars:
"It was an art of the individual, lonely and in
I said earlier that young American painting made its
rebellion. . . a question of finding . . .your own
entry into the world only a few years ago. However, it
has had a long pre-history that is also a long and answers. . . . We discovered a simple thing, yet
serious education . . . the influence of Marcel Du¬ far reaching in its effects. 'The search is the
champ has been predominant ever since the exhibi¬ discovery.' Picasso had said 'I don't search. I find.'
tion at the Armory in 1913. In 1920 Katherine Dreier
We lacked the confidence for such an arrogant
collaborated with Duchamp and Man Ray in founding
the Societe Anonyme, a prodigious collection that at remark. We discovered instead that searching
present contains the works of all the painters who was itself a way of art."145 Klee's self-inter¬
have won distinction in abstract art between 1910 and rogatory art, constantly seeking new formal so¬
1945 ... at about the same time [1920 sic] A. E.
lutions to carry the fullest weight of meaning,
Gallatin began the collection . . . The Museum of
was a living example of art as search.
Living Art . . . now in Philadelphia. A third collection
which cannot be slighted is the one sponsored by the Klee's explorations of pictorial form were al¬
Guggenheim Foundation (The Museum of Non-Ob¬ ways undertaken to achieve the greatest expres¬
jective Painting) directed by Hilla Rebay. . . . Last in sive content, yet his art stands as a somewhat
chronological order, but already tending to surpass the
ironic paradigm of the principle that holds mod¬
others in importance, is the collection of the Museum
of Modern Art. ... To give an example of America's ernism to be capable of meaningful content only
discernment. . . I need only say that each of these four as the product of vigilant, formal self-criticism. If
museums has owned for a long time important can¬ the paradigmatic emphasis seems off, Klee
vasses by Mondrian, a painter absent from the Mu¬
nonetheless vastly extended the competence of
seums of France.144
the means of painting to recapitulate the phys¬
Mondrian was Seuphor's particular passion, but ical and spiritual drama of human existence. His
his remarks would have been equally accurate immensely rich art put him at the source from
had he used the example of Klee. By midcentury which "many different minds and tempera¬
the vision of collectors and enthusiasts com¬ ments" could draw. In 1949, Barr excoriated
bined with the course of history had made of those who dogmatically asserted that one style
America the functional "Klee capital" of the was better than another, declaring in homage to
world. Paul Klee that no one kind of art provided "the
Abstract Expressionism was the product of a only funicular up Parnassus."146

108
 The Forum Exhibition of Modern American Paint¬

Notes
The second digit is typed over so that it reads as
ers: March 1916, ACA Heritage Gallery, New York, both an "8" and a "2."
March 14—April 9, 1966, n.p. 42. Scheyer Archive, K. 1930-2.
24. Societe Anonyme (S.A.) Exhibition 14, March 43. Societe Anonyme Archives, letter, Dreier to Klee,
1. Letter of December 12, 1936, in "Kandinsky und 15—April 12, 1921, and S.A. 22, February 5-22, March 30, 1926.
Klee: Aus dem Briefwechsel der beiden Kunstler 1923. For a complete list of exhibitions sponsored 44. Societe Anonyme Archives, letter, Klee to Dreier,
und ihrer Frauen—1912-1914," Berner by the Societe Anonyme, see The Societe Ano¬ April 16, 1926.
Kunstmitteilungen (Bern), nos. 234-36 (De¬ nyme and the Dreier Bequest: A Catalogue Rai- 45. Thomas Hart Benton, "NewYork Exhibitions," The
cember 1984-February 1985), ed. Dr. Sandor sonne, edited by Robert L. Herbert, Eleanor S. Arts (New York), vol. 11, no. 1 (January 1927),
Kuthy with notices by Stefan Frey, p. 17. Apter, and Elise K. Kenney (New Haven, Connecti¬ p. 49.
2. Arthur Jerome Eddy, Cubists and Post-Impres¬ cut) and London: Yale University Press, 1984), pp. 46. Clement Greenberg, "The Late Thirties in New
sionism (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1914), p. 88. 776-79. York," Art and Culture (Boston: Beacon, 1961),
The title of the watercolor may have been mis¬ 25. Henry McBride, "Notes and Activities in the World p. 232.
translated, as Klee recorded it in his oeuvre cata¬ of Art," New York Sun, January 13, 1924. 47. Sheldon Cheney, A Primer of Modem Art (New
logue as Haus bei der Brucke (House by the 26. Max Ernst, Ecritures (Paris: Gallimard, 1970), York: Boni and Liveright, 1927), pp. 70, 86, 170,
Bridge). pp. 38-39. 171, 172. First printing, January 1924.
3. Henry A. LaFarge, "Klee: The Old Magician in a 27. "Souvenirs of Marcel Duchamp," in Robert Lebel, 48. Cheney, p. 201.
New U.S. Look," Art News (New York), vol. 48, no. Marcel Duchamp, translated by George Heard 49. 39 aquarelles de Paul Klee, Galerie Vavin-Raspail,
2 (April 1949), p. 42. Hamilton (New York: Grove Press, 1959), p. 85. Paris, October 21-November 14, 1925.
4. A notable exception is Andrew Kagan, in "Paul French edition: Sur Marcel Duchamp (Paris: Tri¬ 50. La Peinture surrealiste, Galerie Pierre, Paris, No¬
Klee's Influence on American Painting," Part I, Arts anon Press, 1959). vember 14-25, 1925. Other artists were Hans
Magazine (New York), vol. 49, no. 10 (June 1975), 28. Collection of the Societe Anonyme: Museum of Arp, Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Joan Miro, Man
pp. 54-59, and Part II, Arts Magazine, vol. 50, no. Modern Art 1920, edited by George Heard Ray, and Pierre Roy.
1 (September 1975), pp. 84-90. Hamilton (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Univer¬ 51. Franqois Chapon, Mystere et splendeurs de
5. Eddy, p. 4. sity Art Gallery, 1950), p. 141. JacquesDoucet(Paris: J.-C. Lattes, 1984), pp. 289,
6. Cited by Rudi Blesh, in Modern Art U.S.A. (New 29. Cited in Margaret Sterne, The Passionate Eye: The 295.
York: Knopf, 1956), p. 56. In 1913 Klee's work, still Life of William R. Valentiner (Detroit: Wayne State 52. Will Grohmann, Paul Klee (Paris: Cahiers d'Art,
in a developmental stage, was insufficiently University Press, 1980), pp. 143-44. 1929) .
known to have been included in the Armory 30. Cited in Sterne, p. 144. 53. Das Kunstblatt, vol. 11, no. 10 (1927), p. 379.
Show. 31. With "Comment" by Ladislas Medgyes, Broom, 54. Scheyer Archive, K. 1930-5.
7. The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918, edited and vol. 4, no. 3 (February 1923), pp. 171, 179, 181, 55. Joan M. Lukach, Hilla Rebay: In Search of the Spirit
with an introduction by Felix Klee (Berkeley and 212-13. in Art (New York: Braziller, 1983), p. 54.
Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1964), 32. Conversation with the author, January 1975. 56. According to Lukach, p. 41, because of lack of
Diary III, no. 585, p. 162. First German edition: 33. Cited in Brassai: The Artists of My Life, translated space, "the 'objective' paintings by the 'precur¬
Tagebucher von Paul Klee, edited by Felix Klee by Richard Miller (New York: Viking, 1982), p. 143. sors' to the non-objective [Rebay assigned Klee to
(Cologne: M. DuMont Schauberg, 1957). Miro gave conflicting dates and accounts of the this category] remained in the Guggenheim suite
8. Diaries, p. 318, III, no. 961. events surrounding his discovery of the work of at The Plaza Hotel where they were available to
9. Diaries, p. 194, III, no. 747. See essay by 0. K. Paul Klee. Clement Greenberg, in Joan Miro (Hew the interested viewer." The records of The Sol¬
Werckmeister, in this book for Klee's involvement York: Quadrangle, 1948), pp. 27-28, reports: "I omon R. Guggenheim Museum do not reveal
with the Raterrepublik. would have conjectured that Klee had already when Klee's work was first put on view in the
10. Padagogisches Skizzenbuch (Munich: Langen, exerted some influence on the mood and calligra¬ museum itself.
1925), llll. 37, p. 44, as translated by Renate Fran- phy of the Tilled Field though Miro himself has 57. Forbes Watson, "Editorial," The Arts (New York),
ciscono, in Jurgen Glaesemer, Paul Klee: The Col¬ assured me that Klee's art did not come into his vol. 9, no. 5 (1926), p. 240.
ored Works in the Kunstmuseum Bern (Bern: ken until he had finished the pictures he began in 58. Gallery of Living Art (Paris: Horizons de France,
Kornfeld, 1979), p. 150. See also Paul Klee Peda¬ 1923." In Ceqi est la couleur de mes reves, en- 1930) , n.p.
gogical Sketch Book, translated by Sibyl Peech tretiens avec Georges Raillard (Paris: Seuil, 1977), 59. Ibid.
(New York: Nierendorf, 1944), 1111.37. p. 68, Raillard quotes Miro as saying his first en¬ 60. Jacques Mauny, in Preface, Ibid.
11. Cited in Glaesemer, p. 135. counter with Klee's work was in 1923 after he had 61. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Papers, The Museum of Modern
12. Marc Seize, "Paul Klee," L'Art d'Aujourd'hui seen reproductions. In Brassai's citation, no date is Art Archives, New York.
(Paris: Albert Morance, 1929), p. 18. given; however, Miro relates his encounter with 62. In exhibition catalog Paul Klee, The Museum of
13. William Seitz, Abstract Expressionist Painting in Klee to his move (in late 1922) into the studio next Modern Art, New York, March 13—April 2, 1930,
America (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and to Masson's. In this account Miro remembered p. 8.
London: Harvard University Press, 1983), p. 159. seeing actual works by Klee immediately after 63. Manuscript dated 1958inthe files ofTheMuseum
Seitz's book was written in 1955 as a doctoral seeing reproductions. This, however, runs counter of Modern Art, p. K3.
dissertation for Princeton University and was avail¬ to his earlier recollections and is at odds with 64. Paul Klee, 1930, p. 9.
able on microfilm and in typescript prior to its Masson's emphatically stated account that they 65. "Tradition and the Individual Talent" (1919), in
publication in 1983. saw work by Klee a considerable time after finding Selected Prose of T. S. Eliot, edited and with an
14. Barnett Newman, "The First Man Was an Artist," Hausenstein's book. introduction by Frank Kermode (New York: Har-
The Tiger's Eye (New York), no. 1 (October 1947), 34. Hans Hofmann, "The Digest Interviews Hans court Brace Jovanovich / Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
p. 59. Hofmann," The Art Digest (Hew York), vol. 19, no. 1975), p. 41.
15. "What Abstract Art Means to Me," Museum of 13 (April 1, 1945), p. 52. Greenberg, Joan Miro, 66. "Modern Museum Shows Weber, Klee, Maillol,
Modern Art Bulletin (New York), vol. 18, no. 3 pp. 27-28. Lehmbruck," Art News (New York), vol. 28, no. 24
(Spring 1951), p. 4. 35. Andre Masson, "Eloge de Paul Klee," Fontaine (March 15, 1930), p. 11.
16. "The Renaissance and Order," Trans/formation (Paris), no. 53 (June 1946), pp. 105-08. Reprinted 67. Forbes Watson, "In the Galleries," The Arts (New
(New York), vol. 1, no. 2 (1951), p. 87. in Andre Masson, Le Plaisir de peindre (Paris, York), vol. 16, no. 8 (April 1930), p. 568.
17. Diaries, p. 310, III, no. 941. In German: "Ingressoli 1950) and in English translation as "Homage to 68. Henry McBride, New York Sun, March 15, 1930.
die Ruhe geordnet haben, ich mochte uber das Paul Klee," in Partisan Review (New York), vol. 14, 69. Flora Turkel-Deri, "Berlin Letter," Art News (New
Pathos hinaus die Bewegung ordnen" Tage¬ no. 1 (January-February 1947), pp. 59-61, and as York), vol. 28, no. 31 (May 3, 1930), p. 14.
bucher, p. 314). Eulogy of Paul Klee (New York: Curt Valentin, 70. Undated letter in files of Paul Klee Stiftung,
18. Diaries, p. 176, III, no. 633. 1950). Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland.
19. As cited in Glaesemer, pp. 132-33. 36. Letter, K. 1924-1, in Galka Scheyer Blue Four 71. Will Grohmann, "Paul Klee in New York," Der
20. Glaesemer, p. 135. Archive, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, Cali¬ Cicerone (Leipzig), no. 22 (1930), p. 11.
21. Paul Klee, On Modern Art, translated by Paul Find¬ fornia. 72. Facsimile reproduced in Vanity Fair: A Cavalcade
lay, with introduction by Herbert Read (London: 37. Scheyer Archive, K. 1924-4. Undated letter from of the 1920’s and 1930‘s, edited by Cleveland
Faber and Faber, 1948), p. 54. Prepared for a lec¬ Paul Klee to Galka Scheyer. Amory and Frederic Bradlee (New York: Viking,
ture delivered at the opening of an exhibition at 38. Archives of the Societe Anonyme, incorporating 1960), pp. 186-87.
the museum in Jena, East Germany, 1924. First the papers of Katherine S. Dreier, Collection of 73. Frederick R Keppel and R. L. Duffus, The Arts in
published as Uber die moderne Kunst (Bern- American Literature, The Beinecke Rare Book and American Life (New York and London: McGraw
Bumpliz: Benteli, 1945). Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Hill, 1933), pp. 120-22.
22. Harold Rosenberg, "Art as Thinking," in Artworks Connecticut. 74. Blue Four, California Palace of the Legion of
and Packages! Chicago and London: University of 39. Scheyer Archive, K. 1924-12. Honor, San Francisco, n.p. (Kandinsky and
Chicago Press, 1982), p. 44. First edition: New 40. Scheyer Archive, K. 1925-2. Feininger, April 8-22; Jawlensky and Klee, April
York: Horizon Press, 1969. 41. Scheyer Archive, K. 1930-3. The date of the letter 23-May 8, 1931).
23. Cited in Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of can be read as "April 22 nd 30" or "April 28 nd 30." 75. Paul Klee, Braxton Gallery, Hollywood, California,
 May 1—15, 1930, p. 13. 96. Quoted in Selected Paintings by the late Arshile "Picasso and Klee are the greatest artists of our
76. Cited in Lukach, p. 83. Gorky, Samuel Kootz Gallery, New York, March age because they are the freest. There's most
77. As reported in The Societe Anonyme and the 28—April 24, 1950. variety, most scope in their work. They never stop
Dreier Bequest at Yale, p. 17. 97. Seitz, p. 152. inventing. They don't make art that seals itself in
78. German Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of 98. Glaesemer (see above, n. 10), p. 32. one invention.. . . Miro, for example, good as he
Modern Art, New York, March 13—April 26,1931, 99. Cited in Glaesemer, p. 32. is, has wound up with a predictable style. We've
p. 7. 100. Leo Steinberg, "The Eye Is a Part of the Mind," now come to expect the crosses and free forms,
79. German Painting and Sculpture, p. 15. Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth and there they are, every time. I can never be
80. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Die wirkung der deutschen Century Art (New York: Oxford University Press, sure what Klee or Picasso will do next." Lazio
Ausstellung in New York," Museum der Gegen- 1972), p.289. Glozer made an extended comparison of Klee
wart (Berlin), no. 2 (1931), p. 60. 101. "Like Decorations in a Nigger Cemetery (for and Picasso in "Der Weltkrieg und die Moderne,
81. "Deutschen Ausstellung in New York," p. 66. Arthur Powell)," The Collected Poems of Wallace Panorama 1939," in Westkunst: Zeitgenossische
82. German Painting and Sculpture, p. 27. Stevens (New York: Knopf, 1977), p. 151. Kunst seit 1939 (Cologne: DuMont, 1981), pp.
83. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "1933: The Battle Band for 102. Seitz, p. 159. 24-30, observing: "Both are in different ways
German Culture," Magazine of Art (Washington, 103. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Complete Works, vol. 3 major figures of the century." Glozer went on to
D.C.), Special Issue Devoted to Art in the Third (New York: AMS Press, 1968), p. 20. say that Klee "also had more influence on the
Reich, vol. 38, no. 6 (October 1945), p. 218. This is 104. Cubism and Abstract Art, The Museum of Mod¬ generation after the war, on the artists," and that
one of four articles Barr wrote in Ascona, ern Art, New York, March 2—April 19, 1936. "the range of the modern is represented by the
Switzerland, in May 1933 after four months in 105. Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, The Museum of extreme poles of Picasso and Klee." Evidently
Stuttgart. Modern Art, New York, December 7,1936—April without reference to American painting, Alfred
84. Although one of Barr's four articles (see n. 83) was 19, 1937. H. Barr, Jr., made the comparison in 1941 (exhibi¬
published in Hound and Horn in 1934 ("Notes on 106. Charmion von Wiegand, "The Surrealists," Art tion catalog Paul Klee, The Museum of Modern
the Film: Nationalism in German Films"), at the Front (New York), January 1937, p. 13. Art, New York, June 30—July 27, p. 6), writing:
time Barr was unable to find a publisher for the 107. Letter of April 6, 1938, Duncan Phillips Archive, "Not even Picasso approaches him in sheer in¬
other three, which, according to Jacques Barzun The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. ventiveness. In quality of imagination also he can
in the above-cited issue of Magazine of Art 108. Curt Valentin Archive, The Museum of Modern hold his own with Picasso; but Picasso of course
(p. 211), "accumulated bored rejection slips from Art, New York. is incomparably more powerful. Picasso's pic¬
our best magazines." 109. Letter, Paul Klee Stiftung, Bern. tures often roar or stomp or pound; Klee's whis¬
85. Professor Waldschmidt of the Kampfbund fur 110. Valentin Archive. Around the Fish entered the per a soliloquy—lyric, intimate, incalculably sen¬
deutsche Kultur, cited in Barr, "The Battle Band," collection of The Museum of Modern Art in 1939 sitive."
p. 218. 0. K. Werckmeister, translates this as and Vocal Fabric, in 1955. 122. In Max Kozloff, "An Interview with Matta,"
"Fighting League for German Culture." 111. Jeannette Lowe, "Of the Mortal Klee: Memorial Artforum (Los Angeles), vol. 4, no. 1 (September
86. For an interpretation and discussion of Klee's art View of the Wittiest Surrealist," Art News (New 1965), p. 26. Klee's and Matta s spatial render¬
and state of mind in 1933, see Werckmeister's York), vol. 39, no. 2 (October 12, 1940), pp. 12, ings are compared by William S. Rubin in Dada
essay in this book. 15-16. and Surrealist Art (New York: Abrams, 1968),
87. "Kandinsky und Klee: Briefwechsel" (see n. 1, 112. "A Conversation with Clement Greenberg," Art p. 332, to that of Miro, whose Painting (1933;
above), p. 14, letter no. 39, February 1935. Monthly (New York), no. 73 (February 1984), p. 5. reproduced ibid., p. 333), Rubin observes, sug¬
88. Ibid., letter no. 40, February 1935. 113. Clement Greenberg, "On Paul Klee gests "an illusionistic atmospheric space much
89. Ibid., letter no. 37, December 16, 1934. 1879-1940," Partisan Review (New York), vol. 8, like Klee's and adumbrating certain of Matta's
90. Cited in Martin Duberman, Black Mountain: An no. 3 (May-June 1941), pp. 225, 228. effects in 1944."
Exploration in Community (New York: Dutton, 114. Magazine of Art (Washington, D.C.), vol. 39, no. 123. Robert Goldwater, Primitivism and Modern
1972) , p. 60. Duberman's source is the manuscript 4 (April 1946), pp. 127-30. Painting (New York: Harper, 1938), p. 155.
in the Black Mountain Archives, Raleigh, North 115. Cited by Francis V. O'Connor, in "The Life of 124. Sylvester, "Auguries of Experience," p. 49.
Carolina, of Albers's lecture "The Meaning of Art," Jackson Pollock, 1912-1956: A Documentary 125. Cited in O'Connor, vol. 4, D 85, p. 297.
delivered at Black Mountain College, May 6, Chronology," Jackson Pollock: A Catalogue of 126. Rosamond Frost, "Klee: Pigeons Come Home to
1940. See also Josef Albers, Interaction of Color, Paintings, Drawings, and Other Works, vol. 4, Roost," Art News (New York), vol. 41, no. 8
rev. ed. (New Haven, Connecticut, and London: edited by Francis Valentine O'Connor and Eu¬ (June-July 1942), pp. 24-25.
Yale University Press, 1975), p. 5. gene Victor Thaw (New Haven, Connecticut, and 127. For a discussion of Klee and Tobey, see Kagan (n.
91. Letterfrom Solmanto Diane Waldman, November London: Yale University Press, 1978), p. 251. 4, above), Part I, pp. 56-57. The relevance of
15, 1977; cited in Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A 116. Cited in Jacob Kainen, "An Interview with Stanley Klee's work to Tobey's has been pointed out by
Retrospective (New York: The Solomon R. Gug¬ William Hayter," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. many commentators, among them Greenberg,
genheim Museum, 1978), p. 31. 60, no. 5 (January 1986), p. 65. who referred to both Morris Graves and Tobey as
92. This type of "surrealist" Rothko watercolor has not 117. Picasso: Forty Years of His Art, November 15, "products of the Klee school" (Horizon [New
infrequently been compared with works by Miro. 1939-January 7, 1940; Joan Miro, November York], vol. 16, no. 93 [October 1947], p. 25).
Robert Rosenblum ("Notes on Rothko's Surrealist 18, 1941-January 11, 1942. Tobey himself has commented on Klee: "Anyway,
Years," in exhibition catalog Mark Rothko, The 118. Interview with the author and Ann Temkin, De¬ I don't resemble anyone but have some kin [ship]
Pace Gallery, New York, April 24-May 30, 1981, cember 5, 1985. to Klee" (letter to Marian Willard, May 1958, in
pp. 7-8) specifically compares work of Rothko's 119. Cited in Kainen, p. 66. exhibition catalog Mark Tobey, Musee des Arts
Surrealist period with Miro's The Family (1924; 120. Cited in O'Connor, vol. 4, D 90, p. 253. Decoratifs, Paris, 1961). Tobey had probably seen
reproduced by William Rubin, in Miro in the Col¬ 121. In addition to Hayter's comments above (n. 116), Klee's work as early as the late twenties when he
lection of The Museum of Modern Art [New York, he told the author (n. 118), that he found Klee's was living in Seattle and Scheyer's Blue Four ex¬
1973] , p. 29), which itself almost certainly has a influence to have been "even greater" than Pi¬ hibitions were touring the West Coast.
source in Klee (see John Elderfield, The Modern casso's. Cited above (n. 113) is one of several 128. "Concerning the Beginnings of the New York
Drawing [New York: The Museum of Modern Art, instances of Greenberg's comparing Klee and Pi¬ School: 1939-1943: An Interview with Robert
1983], pp. 154, 182). Rosenblum singles out The casso (usually to the detriment of Klee's quality Motherwell Conducted by Sidney Simon in New
Family as "atypically clouded by visible ghosts. For but not to his influence). Sidney Janis's comments York in January 1967," Art International
Rothko, this shadowy sense of after-image and are on page 106, above. Others, inter alia, who (Lugano), vol. 12, no. 6 (Summer 1967), p. 21.
atmosphere must have been compatible with his have made the comparison with at least an 129. Diaries, p. 112, II (Italian Diary), no. 406.
own evocations of a filmy, submarine environ¬ oblique reference to midcentury American 130. Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., "The Violent Art of Hang¬
ment whose dimly discernible inhabitants might painting are A. D. B. Sylvester (in "Auguries of ing Pictures," Magazine of Art (Washington,
vanish in the strong sunlight which customarily Experience," The Tiger's Eye [New York], vol. 1, D.C.), vol. 39, no. 3 (March 1946), p. 109.
floods Miro's art." By contrast, Klee's ink-transfer no. 6 [December 1948], p. 49), who wrote: 131. "Surrealist Paintings Hung Surrealistically," New
watercolors of the early twenties, such as Abstract "Klee's method of composition is dramatically York World-Telegram, October 24, 1942.
Trio (fig. 16), Male and Female Plant (fig. 26), and opposed to that of the Renaissance and there¬ 132. Interview with the author and Ann Temkin, No¬
Twittering Machine (p. 172), which were well fore Picasso"; James Thrall Soby (in an unpub¬ vember 14, 1985.
known in New York, are characterized by aque¬ lished letter of April 18, 1950, files of The Mu¬ 133. Irving Sandler, The Triumph of American Paint¬
ous, filmy grounds. It is also to be remarked that in seum of Modern Art), who stated: "Klee seems ing: A History of Abstract Expressionism (New
its quality and sensibility, Rothko's line is closer to to me one of the few very great artists our cen¬ York and Washington: Praeger, 1970), p. 33.
Klee's than Miro's. tury has produced, and whose influence on 134. Sidney Janis, in the exhibition catalog Abstract
93. "Sincerity, Incredible Fantasy in Klee's Art," The Art younger painters of talent is perhaps greater and Surrealist Art in the United States, published
D/gesf(New York), vol. 9, no. 12 (March 15,1935), than that of any other contemporary master ex¬ by The San Francisco Museum of Art, 1944,
p. 13. cept possibly Picasso." Mark Tobey (according to p. 16. The exhibition traveled to Cincinnati, Den¬
94. Scheyer Archive, K. 1935-4. Selden Rodman, in Conversations with Artists ver, Seattle, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco
95. Scheyer Archive, K. 1935-7. [New York: Devin-Adair, 1957], p. 18), asserted: during 1944.
135. Idem.
136. Letter to the author, November 14, 1985.
137. Kagan (n. 4), Part II, p. 84.
138. Harry F. Gaugh, in the exhibition catalog The Vital
Gesture: Franz Kline, Cincinnati Art Museum,
November 27, 1985-March 2, 1986, p. 97, dis¬
counts Kagans assertion (n. 137) that Klee had
an immediate impact on Kline at the time of The
Museum of Modern Art 1949-50 exhibition. It is
unlikely that Kline would have known Klee's The
Cupboard, as is conjectured by Gaugh and im¬
plied by Kagan, as the picture was not in the
Modern's exhibition.
139. Gaugh, pp. 85-86.
140. For a discussion of Gottlieb and Klee, see Kagan,
Part II, pp. 85-87. References to the possible
influence of Klee on Gottlieb are to be found
throughout the Gottleib literature.
141. For a discussion of Klee and Noland, see Diane
Waldman, in exhibition catalog Kenneth
Noland: A Retrospective, The Solomon R. Gug¬
genheim Museum, New York, April 15-June 19,
1977, pp. 12-16. See also Kagan, Part II, pp.
87-88.
142. Interview, November 14, 1985.
143. Cited in Waldman, p. 13.
144. Michel Seuphor, "Paris New York 1951," Modern
Artists in America, edited by Robert Motherwell
and Ad Reinhardt, First Series (New York: Witten-
born Schultz, 1952), p. 119.
145. "Epitaph for an Avant-Garde," Arts Magazine
(New York), vol. 33, no. 2 (November 1958),
p. 25.
146. Response to questions posed by Robert Gold-
water, in "A Symposium. The State of American
Art," Magazine of Art (Washington, D.C.), vol.
42, no. 1 (January 1949), p. 85.
 Plates

German titles are the artist's. Dates are followed by the inventory number that Klee
assigned to each of his works. All titles, dates, and inventory numbers were recorded in
the artist's oeuvre catalogue, now in the Paul Klee Stiftung of the Kunstmuseum Bern.
Klee began this detailed listing of his production in 1911, retroactively included works
dating back to 1883, and maintained it through May 1940. In the dimensions, height
precedes width.

113
114 Untitled (Family Outing) Child's Drawing, Representing Five Clock with Roman Numerals Lady with Parasol
Ohne Titel (Familienspazierfahrt) Sisters Uhr mit romischen Zahlen Dame mit Sonnenschirm
1883 / N Kinderzeichnung, funf Geschwister 1884 / 16 1883-85/15
Pencil on paper, 11 Va x 7A in. darstellend Pencil and colored crayon on paper, Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard
(28 2 x 18.4 cm) ca 1885 mounted on cardboard, 47/s x 7 in. with two other childhood drawings,
Private collection, Switzerland Pencil and colored grease crayon on (12.5 x 18 cm) 43/s x 3'A in. (11.2 x 8.2 cm), irregular
paper, mounted on cardboard, Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
6’/s x S'/2 in. (15.6 x 14 cm), irregular
Private collection, Switzerland
Self-Portrait with the White Cap, A Notorious Masculine Woman 115
after Nature Ein beruchtigtes Mannweib
Selbstportrait mit der weissen From the studies and sketches at Knirr's,
Sportmutze, nach Natur Munich
1899 / 1 1899
Pencil on paper, S/2 x 43A in. Pencil on paper, 123/4 x 8!4 in.
(14 x 12 cm) (32.5 x 21 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 ' it*. 44-0 „ '

jrr. • ~ .5

116 Virgin in a Tree Two Men Meet, Each Believing the

Jungfrau im Baum Other to Be of Higher Rank
Invention 3 Zwei Manner, einander in hoherer
1903 /2 Stellung vermutend, begegnen sich
Etching, 95/ie x 11 "/16 in. Invention 6
(28.7 x 29.7 cm) 1903/5
The Museum of Modern Art, New York Etching, 4% x 87/s in. (11.7 x 22.6 cm)
Purchase Fund The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of Mme Paul Klee
Female and Animal Comedian 117
Weib und Tier Komiker
Invention 'I, second version Invention 4
1904/13 1904/14
Etching, 77/s x 8% in. (20 x 22.8 cm) Etching and aquatint, 6Vi6 x 65/s in.
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung (15.3 x 16.8 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase Fund
 4)0t J

118 Hero with the Wing Hero with the Wing

Held mit dem Flugel Held mit dem Flugel
1905 /7 Invention 2
Pencil on paper, 9% x 47/s in. 1905 / 38
(24 x 12.5 cm) Etching, 10 x 6'A in. (25.4 x 15.9 cm)
Collection E. W. K., Bern The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase Fund
Aged Phoenix
Greiser Phoenix
Invention 9
1905 / 36
Etching, 103/s x 79/i6 in. (26.3 x 19.2 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase Fund
120 Portrait of a Pregnant Woman Musical Tea Party
Bildnis einer schwangeren Frau Musikalische Theegesellschaft
1907 / 25 1907 / 20
Charcoal and watercolor on paper, Ink on glass, 6Va x 10 in. (17 x 25.5 cm)
9/2 x 13'A in. (24.3 x 33.9 cm) Isidore Ducasse Fine Arts, Inc.,
The Brooklyn Museum, New York New York
Museum Collection Fund
Young Man with Pointed Beard, 121
Resting His Head in His Hand
Junger mannlicher Kopf, in Spitzbart,
Hand gestutzt
1908 /42
Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
8% x 6Vs in. (22 x 16.9 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
122 Clock on the Sideboard
by Candlelight
Uhr auf der Kredenz, bei Kerzenlicht
1908/69
Watercolor on paper, 7% x 8!/s in.
(18.7 x 20.7 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Self-Portrait, Full Face, Flead Resting Glance in a Bedroom 123
in the Hand Blick in eine Schlafkammer
Selbstportrait en face in die Hand 1908 / 70
gestutzt Watercolor on paper, 11% x 9'A in.
1909 /32 (30 x 23.6 cm)
Watercolor on paper, 6V2 x 5'A in. Kunstmuseum Basel
(16.5 x 13.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
124 Self-Portrait: Drawing for a Well-Tended Woodland Path,
Woodcut Waldegg near Bern
Selbst: Zeichnung zu einem Holzschnitt Gepflegter Waldweg, Waldegg bei Bern
1909 / 39 1909 / 62
Ink on paper, 5Vi x 55/s in. India ink on linen, 6% x 1014 in.
(13.3 x 14.5 cm) (17.5 x 25.7 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland Private collection, Switzerland
Furniture Caricature Interior (Sideboard) 125
Karikatur eines Mobels Interieur (Kredenz)
1910/15 1910/14
Pen and ink on paper, mounted on Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 8% x 103/s in. cardboard, 83A x 1014 in.
(22.5 x 26.3 cm) (22.3 x 26.2 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Private collection, Freiburg,
West Germany
126 Draftsman at the Window
Der Zeichner am Fenster
1909 / 70
Watercolor and colored crayon on
paper, 1VA x 9'A in. (30 x 23.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Girl with Jugs
Madchen mit Krugen
1910 / 120
Oil on cardboard, 133/4 x 11 in.
(35 x 28 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
128 Top: Bottom left: Bottom right:
Candide, Chapter 5: "Quelle peut- Candide, Chapter 9: "II le perce Candide, Chapter 13: "Et ordonna au
etre la raison suffisante de ce d'outre en outre" capitaine Candide d'aller faire la
phenomene?" 1911 / 62 revue de sa compagnie"
1911 / 81 Pen and ink on paper, mounted on 1912/39
Pen and ink on paper, mounted on cardboard, 57/s x 97/s in. (15 x 25.2 cm) Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 53/s x 83/4 in. Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung cardboard, 73/e x 93/4 in.
(13.7 x 22.2 cm) (18.8 x 24.7 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Young Man Resting 129
Junger Mann, ausruhend
1911 / 42
Brush and ink on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 5Vs x 10'A in.
(13.8 x 26.2 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
 -ij} i*- A 1115 5£

130 Youthful Self-Portrait Cunning Enticement

Jugendliches Selbstportrait Listige Werbung
1910 / 76 1913 / 56
Pen and brush and black watercolor on Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
paper, mounted on cardboard, cardboard, 55/s x 6Va in.
6Vs x 614 in. (17.5 x 15.9 cm) (14.4 x 16.4 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 I

ft***

The Fleeing Policemen Belligerent Tribe 131

Die fliehenden Polizisten Kriegerischer Stamm
1913/ 55 1913/41
Pen and ink on paper, mounted on Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 75/8 x 6Vs in. cardboard, 55/s x 97/s in.
(19.6 x 15.5 cm) (14.3 x 25.1 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Graphische Sammlung
 ——
Wf TT- ' ~i f-ivi-'t

132 Before the Gates of Kairouan Genesis of the Stars (1 Moses 1.14)
(Original Version from Nature) Genesis der Gestirne (I Moses 1.14)
Vor den Toren von Kairuan 1914/14
(ursprungliche Fassung vor der Natur) Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted
1914 / 216 on cardboard, 6% x 9/2 in.
Watercolor on paper, mounted on (16.2 x 24.2 cm)
cardboard, 8Vfe x 123/s in. Private collection, Munich
(20.7 x 31.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 Seesaw 133
Untitled
Ohne Titel Schaukel
1914/18 1914/17
Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted Pen and ink on paper, 5% x 8'A in
on cardboard, 6% x 6'A in. (15.2 x 21.2 cm)
(17 x 15.8 cm) Graphische Sammlung Albertina,
Kunstmuseum Basel Vienna, Alfred Kubin Stiftung
134 Motif from Hamamet
Motiv aus Hammamet
1914/48
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 77/s x 6'/s in.
(20.2 x 15.7 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
On a Motif from Hamamet
Uber ein Motiv aus Hammamet
1914/57
Oil on cardboard, 105/s x 85/s in.
(27 x 22 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
 17T~Z 2 tj t'ta.tfj<ryr

136 Kairouan (Farewell) Beach of St. Germain near Tunis

Kairuan (Abschied) Badestrand St. Germain bei Tunis
1914/42 1914 / 215
Watercolor on paper, mounted on Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 87/s x 9V& in. cardboard, 8V2 x 105/s in. (21.7 x 27 cm)
(22.6 x 23.2 cm) Ulmer Museum, Ulm, West Germany
Ulmer Museum, Ulm, West Germany Extended loan from the state of Baden-
Stiftung Sammlung Kurt Fried Wurttemberg, West Germany
Garden in St. Germain, European 137
Quarter of Tunis
Garten in der tunesischen
Europaerkolonie St. Germain
1914 / 213
Watercolor on laid paper, mounted on
cardboard, 8/2 x 103/4 in.
(21.6 x 27.3 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
138 St. Germain near Tunis (Inland)
St. Germain bei Tunis (landeinwarts)
1914/217
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 8V2 x 12% in.
(21.6 x 32.4 cm)
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne
Succession Kandinsky
w?T iot-

Fohn Wind: In Franz Marc's Garden

Fohn, im Marc'schen Garten
1915 /102
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 77/s x 5% in. (20 x 15 cm)
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus,
Munich
 Wj4n IcKZTt oFTTTjCttK

140 View of the Severely Threatened Naval Station Madhouse

City of Pinz Kriegshafen Irrenhaus
Ansicht der schwer bedrohten Stadt 1915/10 1915 /121
Pinz Pen on paper, mounted on cardboard, Pen on paper, mounted on cardboard,
1915 /187 4'/8 x 77/s in. (10.5 x 20 cm) 65/a x 5Vb in. (16.8 x 13 cm)
Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted Private collection, Switzerland Private collection, Bern
on cardboard, 514 x 8V5 in.
(14 x 21.7 cm)
Private collection, West Germany
Quarry at Ostermundigen 141
Steinbruch Ostermundigen
1915 / 213
Watercolor over pencil on paper,
mounted on cardboard, 77/s x 9% in.
(20.2 x 24.6 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Warning of the Ships
Warnung der Schiffe
1917 /108
Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 9/2 x 6% in.
(24.2 x 16.4 cm), irregular
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Graphische Sammlung
Top left: Bottom left: Right: 143
Astral Automatons Irma Rossa, the Animal Tamer Fatal Bassoon Solo
Astrale Automaten Irma Rossa die Bandigerin Fatales Fagott Solo
1918 /171 1918 / 162 1918 / 172
Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted Pen and ink on paper, 11% x 85/s in.
on cardboard, 8% x 7% in. on cardboard, 7% x 9 in. (29 x 22 cm)
(22.5 x 20.3 cm) (18.8 x 22.9 cm) Collection Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
Private collection, Australia Sprengel Museum Hannover Saidenberg, New York
144 With the Egg
Mit dem Ei
1917/47
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 9Vs x 57/s in.
(23.3 x 14.9 cm)
Private collection, West Germany
'-'ilwst dfy. (jlfiH itf} Montctydiwtl muthn.,
ftornti vffr d* fyolTi*nTj, Jh->i ^he-ifinjS Vih, Miu- ^
Jbet j unihyj ~lm* Kin*L,ch. y_e.s£/ lAitn/.

Once Emerged from the Gray of

Night. . .
Einst dem Grau der Nacht enttaucht. . .
1918/17
Watercolor and pen drawing in India ink
over pencil on paper, cut into two parts
with strip of silver paper between,
mounted on cardboard, 87/s x 6!4 in.
(22.6 x 15.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 (ft^ktTlSfmr J
x /
put!, n>/£ Cirri'
/Ik I

iCjlf -1(|i.

146 Souvenir (of Gersthofen) Inscription

Gedenkblatt (an Gersthofen) Inschrift
1918 /196 1918/207
Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted Pen on paper, mounted on cardboard,
on cardboard, 11 Vi x 8'A in. 8!4 x 2V& in. (21 x 7.5 cm)
(28.5 x 21 cm) Private collection, Switzerland
Private collection, Switzerland
Artist Pondering Constructed in Color with Black 147
Abwagender Kunstler Graphic Elements
1919 / 73 Farbig gebaut mit schwarz-graphischem
Tracing on paper, mounted on Gegenstandlichem
cardboard, 77/s x 6V2 in. (20 x 16.5 cm) 1919/62
Private collection, Switzerland Watercolor on paper with chalk ground,
in two parts, 9 x 121/s in. (23 x 31 cm)
Private collection, New York
 If If Si

148 The Eye of Eros

Das Auge des Eros
1919 / 53
Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 5Vs x 8Ys in. (13 x 22 cm)
Morton G. Neumann Family Collection,
Chicago
Absorption: Portrait of an
Expressionist
Versunkenheit: Bildnis eines
Expressionisten
1919 /113
Lithograph with watercolor on paper,
10x7 in. (25.6 x 18 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
150 Black Magician
Schwarzmagier
1920 / 13
Watercolor over oil transfer on chalk-
primed paper, mounted on cardboard,
14V2 x 10 in. (37 x 25.5 cm)
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen,
Munich, Extended loan from private
collection
The Bavarian Don Giovanni
Der bayerische Don Giovanni
1919 / 116
Watercolor on paper, 8% x 83/s in.
(22.5 x 21.3 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
152 Rocky Landscape (with Palms
and Fir Trees)
Felsenlandschaft (mit Palmen und
Tannen)
1919 / 155
Oil on cardboard, 16V2 x 20]A in.
(42 x 51.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Composition with Windows 153
(Composition with a B')
Komposition mit Fenstern (Komposition
mit dem B')
1919 /156
Oil over pen and India ink, varnished, on
cardboard, 19% x 15 in. (50.4 x 38.3 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
154 Baroque Portrait
Barockbildnis
1920/9
Watercolor and gouache on paper,
lOVi x 7 in. (25.9 x 17.8 cm)
Collection Carl Djerassi, promised
gift to San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art
View from a Window 155
Fensterausblick
1920 / 27
Oil on paper with lacquer ground,
1614 x 12% in. (41.5 x 32.7 cm)
Private collection, Munich
 *~sr

ULto fri —l ch. I _H'tuiL—dhuk-a.

156 Sea Landscape with Heavenly Body The Way from Unklaich to China
Seelandschaft mit dem Himmelskorper Der Weg von Unklaich nach China
1920/166 1920/153
Pen and ink on paper in two parts, Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
mounted on cardboard, 5x11 in. cardboard, IVe, x ll'/fe in.
(12.7 x 28.1 cm) (18.6 x 28.2 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Landscape and Yellow Church Tower 157
Landschaft und gelben Kirchturm
1920/122
Oil on cardboard, 18% x 2VA in.
(48.2 x 54 cm)
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen,
Munich
158 Moribundus Pisch, the Tormented
1919/203 Pisch, der Gequalte
Watercolor over oil transfer drawing on 1918 / 137
paper, mounted on cardboard, Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
8V2 x 11 in. (21.7 x 28 cm) cardboard, 75/s x 1114 in.
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne (19.4 x 28.5 cm)
Graphische Sammlung Albertina,
Vienna, Alfred Kubin Stiftung
Metaphysical Transplant 159
Transplantation metaphysisch
1920/180
Watercolor over oil transfer drawing on
paper, mounted on cardboard,
103/4 x 1714 in. (27.3 x 43.8 cm)
Collection Helen Keeler Burke, Illinois
They're Biting
Sie beissen an
1920/6
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
paper, 1214 x 9'A in. (31.1 x 23.5 cm)
The Trustees of the Tate Gallery, London
An Angel Serves a Small Breakfast An Angel Serves a Small Breakfast 161
Ein Genius serviert ein kleines Fruhstuck Ein Genius serviert ein kleines Fruhstuck
1920/ 91 1915 / 29
Lithograph, with watercolor additions, Pen and ink on paper, 12% x 9Vs in.
73/4 x 5% in. (19.8 x 14.6 cm) (33 x 24.5 cm)
Sprengel Museum Hannover Collection E. W. K., Bern
162 Drawing for "Room Perspective with Room Perspective with Inhabitants
Inhabitants" Zimmerperspektive mit Einwohnern
Zeichnung zur "Zimmerperspektive mit 1921 / 24
Einwohnern" Watercolor over oil transfer drawing on
1921 / 168 paper, mounted on cardboard,
Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard, 19 x 1214 in. (48.5 x 31.7 cm)
1314 x 93/4 in. (33.8 x 25 cm), irregular Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Ghost of a Genius 163
Gespenst eines Genies
1922 / 10
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
paper, mounted on cardboard,
207/s x 133/8 in. (53 x 34 cm)
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,
Edinburgh
 ^2.1 dii Zlr*(1 mm- Km'sff. tua.'Zzawif ftfnljit.

164 The Great Kaiser, Armed for Battle

Der grosse Kaiser, zum Kampf gerustet
1921 /131
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
plaster-primed canvas, mounted on
cardboard, 17'/s x ll’/s in.
(43.5 x 28.2 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Arab City 165
Arabische Stadt
1922 / 29
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
plaster-primed gauze, mounted on
cardboard, 12'/2 x 77/s in.
(31.7 x 20.3 cm)
Private collection
166 Comedy Study for "Comedy"
Komodie Komodie
1921 /108 1921 / 109
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
paper, mounted on cardboard, cardboard, 83A x 6'A in.
12 x 177/s in, (30.5 x 45.5 cm) (22.3 x 15.8 cm), irregular
The Trustees of the Tate Gallery, London Private collection, Canada
Tale a la Hoffmann 167
Hoffmanneske Geschichte
1921 /18
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
laid paper, bordered with metallic foil,
mounted on cardboard, 1214 x 9'/2 in.
(31.1 x 24.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
168 Green, Violet against Orange
Grun, Violett, gegen Orange
1922 / 71
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 10% x 6% in.
(26.4 x 15.5 cm)
Private collection, New York
 i"i t t s j)T*fr i»ii~ Kri

Fugue in Red Crystal Gradation 169

Fuge in Rot Kristall-Stufung
1921 / 69 1921 / 88
Watercolor on paper, mounted on Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 914 x 14% in. cardboard, 9% x 12% in.
(24.3 x 37.2 cm) (24.5 x 31.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland Kunstmuseum Basel
170 Night Feast Rose Wind
Nachtliches Fest Rosenwind
1921 /176 1922 / 39
Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard, Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
195/s x 24 in. (50 x 61 cm) I6/2 x 19 in. (42 x 48.5 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Private collection, Switzerland
New York
God of the Northern Woods 171
Der Gott des nordlichen Waldes
1922 / 32
Oil and pen-and-lndia-ink drawing on
canvas, mounted on cardboard,
21 x 161/4 in. (53.5 x 41.4 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Twittering Machine
Zwitscher Maschine
1922 / 151
Watercolor and pen and ink on oil
transfer drawing on paper, mounted on
cardboard. 2574 x 19 in.
(63.8 x 48.1 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase Fund
Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber 173
Das Vokaltuch der Kammersangerin
Rosa Silber
1922 / 126
Gouache and plaster on canvas,
20'/4 x 163/8 in. (51.5 x 41.7 cm),
irregular
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Resor
 Tropical Gardening The Steamboat Passes the Botanical
174
Tropische Garten Kultur Garden
1923 / 55 Der Dampfer fahrt am botanischen
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on Garten vorbei
paper, mounted on paper, 7% x 19/4 in. 1921 / 199
(20 x 48.9 cm) Pen and black ink on paper, in two
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, parts, mounted on cardboard,
New York, Gift of Solomon R. 4Vs x 113/s in. and 4 x 11 Vi in.
Guggenheim, 1937 (11.9 x 28.9 cm and 10.4 x 28.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Mural from the Temple of Longing 175
^ Thither^
Wandbild aus dem Tempel der
Sehnsucht ^dorthin^
1922 / 30
Watercolor, transfer drawing on gessoed
cloth, mounted on cardboard,
lOVs x 143/s in. (27 x 36.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
176 Analysis of Diverse Perversities The Wild Man
Analyse verschiedener Perversitaten Der wilde Mann
1922/170 1922/209
Pen and ink drawing and watercolor on Colored pencil on paper, mounted on
paper, mounted on cardboard, cardboard, 153/4 x 11 in. (40 x 28 cm)
12Vs x 93/8 in. (31 x 24 cm) Collection Mr. and Mrs. James Foster,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris Chicago
Musee National d'Art Moderne
Window Display for Lingerie Portrait of an Expressionist 177
Schaufenster fur Damenunterkleidung Bildnis eines Expressionisten
1922 / 125 1922 /240
Pen and black ink and watercolor on Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
two sheets of laid paper bordered with 12’/s x 83/4 in. (31 x 22.2 cm)
black ink, mounted on cardboard, Private collection, Washington, D.C.
16'/2 x 105/s in. (41.9 x 27 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
178 Separation in the Evening
Scheidung Abends
1922 / 79
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 13Vfe x 9'A in.
(33.5 x 23.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Stricken Place
Betroffener Ort
1922/109
Watercolor and pen and India ink over
pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
127/s x 9 in. (32.8 x 23.1 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
17, Astray Classic-Dynamic Scherzo "217"
Siebzehn, irr Klassisch-dynamisches Scherzo "217"
1923/136 1923/187
Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted Pen with black ink and pencil on paper,
on cardboard, 87/s x 1114 in. mounted on cardboard, 11 Vi x 8V2 in.
(22.5 x 28.5 cm) (28.7 x 21.7 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
The Tightrope Walker
Der Seiltanzer
1923 / 121
Watercolor over oil transfer drawing and
pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
19V8 x 12% in. (48.7 x 32.2 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
182 Landscape with Yellow Birds
Landschaft mit gelben Vogeln
1923 / 32
Watercolor and gouache on paper,
137/a x 17Vi in. (35.5 x 44 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Assyrian Game
Assyrisches Spiel
1923 / 79
Oil on cardboard, 1472 x 20 in.
(37 x 51 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
184 Actor
Schauspieler
1923 / 27
Oil on packing paper, mounted on
cardboard, 1814 x 93A in.
(46.5 x 25 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Child on the Stairway
Kind an der Freitreppe
1923 / 65
Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
9Va x 7 in. (24.5 x 18 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
186 Ventriloquist: Caller in the Moor
Bauchredner und Rufer im Moor
1923 / 103
Watercolor and oil transfer drawing on
laid paper bordered with black and blue
ink, mounted on cardboard,
151/4 x 107/s in. (38.7 x 27.6 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
Perspective with Open Door 187
Perspektive mit offener Ture
1923/143
Oil transfer drawing and watercolor on
paper, mounted on cardboard,
1014 x 10% in. (26 x 27 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
The Window
Das Fenster
1922 / 140
Oil on cardboard, 223/4 x 15/4 in.
(57.8 x 38.7 cm)
Stephen Hahn, Inc., New York
Architecture
Architektur
1923 / 62
Oil on cardboard, 223/s x 143/4 in.
(57 x 37.5 cm)
Staatliche Museen Preussischer
Kulturbesitz, Nationalgalerie, Berlin
190 Double Tent
Doppeizelt
1923 / 114
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 19% x 12% in.
(50.6 x 31.8 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
Eros 191
1923/115
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 13Vfe x 9% in.
(33.3 x 24.5 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
Harmony of Rectangles in Red,
Yellow, Blue, White, and Black
Harmonie aus Vierecken mit Rot, Gelb,
Blau, Weiss, und Schwarz
1923/238
Oil on cardboard with black ground,
21Vi x 197/s in. (69.7 x 50.6 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
North Sea Picture (from Baltrum) North Sea Picture (from Baltrum) 193
Nordseebild (aus Baltrum) Nordseebild (aus Baltrum)
1923 /246 1923 /242
Watercolor and brush drawing over Watercolor on paper, mounted on
pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard, cardboard, 93A x 123/s in.
12 x 18/2 in. (30.7 x 47.1 cm) (24.7 x 31.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Dune Flora
Dunenflora
1923 / 184
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 10x11% in.
(25.4 x 30.2 cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
Saidenberg, New York
Salon Tunisien 195
1918 / 6
Watercolor on paper, 87/s x 11 Vi in,
(22.5 x 28.5 cm)
Private collection, Frankfurt, West
Germany
196 The Draftsman
Der Zeichner
1924 / 61
Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
87/sx ll'/s in. (22.5 x 28.4 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Cosmic Flora 197
Kosmische Flora
1923/176
Brush drawing in watercolor on tinted-
chalk ground on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 105/s x 14% in.
(27.2 x 36.6 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
198 Magic Theater
Zaubertheater
1923 / 25
Pen and brush drawing in India ink,
painted with watercolor, on paper,
mounted on cardboard, 13'/4 x 87/s in,
(33.6 x 22.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 MM

Strange Garden
Seltsamer Garten
1923/160
Watercolor on gessoed cloth bordered
with red and green gouache and black
ink, mounted on cardboard,
153A x 1 m in. (40 x 28.9 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
200 Possessed Girl Astrological Fantasy Portrait
Besessenes Madchen Astrologisch-phantastisches Bildnis
1924/250 1924/159
Oil and watercolor on paper, mounted Gouache on laid paper bordered with
on cardboard, 17 x 113/s in. black ink and gray gouache, mounted
(43.2 x 29 cm) on cardboard, 123/s x 93/s in.
Collection Beyeler, Basel (31.4 x 23.8 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
Carnival in the Mountains 201
Karneval im Gebirge
1924 / 114
Brush drawing in watercolor over tinted-
paste ground on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 10% x 13 in.
(26.5 x 33.1 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
202 Steamboat
Dampfschiff
1924 / 118
Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
11% x 145/s in. (30 x 37 cm)
Private collection
Danceplay of the Red Skirts
Tanzspiel der Rotrocke
1924 / 119
Oil on paper on cardboard,
13% x 1714 in. (35 x 44 cm)
Private collection
204 In Memory of an All-Girl Band Demonry
Zur Erinnerung an eine Damenkapelle Daemonie
1925 / 103 (A 3) 1925 / 204 (U 4)
Pen and black ink and pencil on laid Pen and black ink on paper, mounted
paper bordered with metallic paint and on cardboard, 97/s x 213A in.
black ink, mounted on cardboard, (25.1 x 55.4 cm), irregular
75/8 x 95/8 in. (19.4 x 24.4 cm) Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
 V" • ■-

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Actor's Mask
Schauspielermaske
1924/252
Oil on canvas mounted on board,
143/a x 13/4 in. (36.7 x 33.8 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection
Fractional gift
206 Human Script Adventure between Kurl and Kamen
Menschenschrift Abenteuer zwischen Kurl und Kamen
1924/92 1925 / 191 (T 1)
Pen and ink on paper, mounted Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
on cardboard, 8Va x 5Va in. cardboard, 12'/s x 6Va in. (30.8 x 17 cm)
(21 x 14.6 cm) Collection Ian Woodner, New York
Milwaukee Art Museum
Gift of Mrs. Edward R. Wehr
 mmm

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Castle of the Faithful 207

Burg der Glaubigen
1924/133
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 9 x 123/j in. (23 x 32.5 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
208 Ur-Clock-Plants Egypt Destroyed
Uhr-Pflanzen Zerstortes Aegypten
1924/261 1924/178
Oil transfer drawing, sprayed, on paper Watercolor and India ink on paper,
with chalk ground, 18’/s x 12 in. mounted on cardboard, 43A x 11 Va in.
(46 x 30.5 cm) (12 x 28 4 cm)
Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
Belgique, Brussels
Letter Picture
Buchstabenbild
1924 / 116
Watercolor and pasted papers on
cardboard, 57/s x 123/4 in.
(15.2 x 32.4 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
210 Oriental Garden
Orientalischer Lustgarten
1925 / 131
Oil on cardboard, 153/4 x 20'/2 in.
(40 x 52.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
Garden Vision
Garten Vision
1925 / 196 (T 6)
Oil on cardboard, 9% x 113/4 in.
(24 x 30 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
212 The Mask with the Little Flag A Village as a Play in Relief
Die Maske mit dem Fahnchen Ein Dorf als Reliefspiel
1925/220 1925 / 140 (E null)
Watercolor sprayed over stencils on Watercolor sprayed over stencils on
chalk-primed paper, 25'/i x 19'/2 in. paper, 9% x 123/s in. (23.9 x 31.4 cm)
(65 x 49.5 cm) Morton G. Neumann Family Collection,
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Chicago
Munich
Still Life with Fragments
Stilleben mit Fragmenten
1925 / 211 (V 1)
Oil on cardboard, 1614 x 2814 in.
(41.2 x 71.8 cm)
Collection Richard S. Zeisler, New York
214 Ancient Sound
Alter Klang
1925 / 236 (X 6)
Oil on pasteboard, 147/s x 14% in.
(38 x 38 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
Abstraction with Reference to a 215
Flowering Tree
Abstract mit Bezug auf einen bluhenden
Baum
1925/ 119 (B 9)
Oil on cardboard, 15'/s x 153/s in.
(38.5 x 39 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
216 Fish Magic
Fischzauber
1925 / 85 (R 5)
Oil and watercolor on muslin,
mounted on board, 30'/2 x 38% in.
(77.5 x 98.4 cm)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Louise and Walter Arensberg
Collection
Around the Fish
Um den Fisch
1926/124 (C 4)
Oil on canvas, 183/s x 25'/8 in.
(46.7 x 63.8 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
218 Bird Wandering Off Sea Adventurer
Abwandernder Vogel Abenteurer zur See
1926 /218 (V 8) 1927 / 5
Gouache sprayed and hand-applied on Watercolor on paper, mounted on
wove paper bordered with gray •cardboard, 9% x 12% in.
gouache, mounted on cardboard, (25.1 x 32.4 cm)
14Va x 185/s in. (37.5 x 47.3 cm) Private collection, Switzerland
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
Dune Landscape 219
Dunenbild
1926 / 115
Oil and tempera on paper, mounted on
wood, 12/2 x 10 in. (32 x 25 cm)
Private collection
Florentine Villa District
"Florentinisches" Villen Viertel
1926/ 223 (W 3)
Oil on cardboard, 19Zi x 14% in.
(49.5 x 36.5 cm)
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne
Village Carnival
Dorf Carnaval
1926 / 135 (D 5)
Oil on cloth mounted on masonite,
215/s x 17Vi in. (55 x 43.8 cm)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Louise and Walter Arensberg
Collection
222 Castle to Be Built in the Woods
Schloss im Wald zu bauen
1926/2
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 103/s x 155/s in.
(26.5 x 39.7 cm)
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Palace, Partly Destroyed
Palast, teilweise zerstort
1926 / 119 (B 9)
Watercolor and ink on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 1814 x 12 in.
(46.4 x 30.5 cm)
The Denver Art Museum
Charles Francis Hendrie Memorial
Collection
224 A Garden for Orpheus Sacred Islands
Ein Garten fur Orpheus Heilige Inseln
1926/3 1926 /6
Pen and black ink on paper, mounted Pen and ink and watercolor on board,
on cardboard, 18I/2 x 123/4 in. 18% x 123/8 in. (47 x 31.3 cm)
(47 x 32.5 cm), irregular The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Gift of Philip Johnson
Variations 225
Variationen (progressives Motiv)
1927 / 299 (Omega 9)
Oil and watercolor on canvas,
16 x 153/4 in. (40.6 x 40 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
 .iSu

ifiHl M-ll- i - i.U~

226 Stage Site Ships in the Lock

Buhnenbauplatz Schiffe in der Schleuse
1928 /44 (N 4) 1928 /40 (M 10)
Pen and ink on paper, mounted on Pen and black ink on paper, mounted
cardboard, 12'/s x 11in. (31 x 30 cm) on cardboard, 11% x 177/s in.
Private collection, West Germany (30.3 x 45.5 cm), irregular
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 — o i, r'C i ’-fit & 0^
■M2J T- f-

Clouds over BOR 227

Gewolk uber BOR
1928 / 155 (F 5)
Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 12V& x 18 in.
(30.8 x 45.8 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
228 Portrait of an Acrobat Conjuring Trick
Artistenbildnis Zauberkunststuck
1927 / 13 (K 3) 1927 / 297 (Omega 7)
Oil and collage on cardboard over wood Oil and watercolor on cardboard,
with painted plaster border, 19/2 x 165/8 in. (49.5 x 42.2 cm)
24% x 153A in. (63.2 x 40 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Museum of Modern Art, New York The Louise and Walter Arensberg
Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund Collection
Clown 229
1929 / 133 (D 3)
Oil on canvas, 263/s x 195/s in.
(67 x 50 cm)
Private collection, St. Louis
230 Still Life (Jars, Fruit, Easter Egg, and
Curtains)
Stilleben (Topfe, Frucht, Osterei, und
Gardinen)
1927 /18 (K 8)
Oil on plaster, 173/4 x 2514 in.
(45.1 x 64.1 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, The Berggruen
Klee Collection, 1984
Colorful Meal 231
Bunte Mahlzeit
1928 / 29 (L 9)
Oil and watercolor on canvas,
33 x 263/s in. (84 x 67 cm)
Private collection, U.S.A.
She Bellows, We Play
Sie brullt, wir spielen
1928 / 70 (P 10)
Oil on canvas, 1714s x 22/4 in.
(43.5 x 56.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Cat and Bird 233
Katze und Vogel
1928 / 73 (Qu 3)
Oil and Ink on gessoed canvas,
mounted on wood, 15 x 207/s in.
(38.1 x 53.2 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of Sidney Janis, and gift of Suzy
Prudden Sussman and Joan H. Meijer
in memory of F. H. Hirschland
234 Tree Nursery
Junge Pflanzung
1929 / 98 (S 8)
Oil on incised gesso panel,
16% x 2014 in. (43 x 52 cm)
The Phillips Collection,
Washington, D.C.
Arrow in the Garden
Pfeil in Garten
1929 /27 (S 7)
Oil and tempera on canvas,
21 Vi x 195/s in. (70 x 50 cm)
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne
Gift of Louise and Michel Leiris
Monument in Fertile Country
Monument im Fruchtland
1929/41 (N 1)
Watercolor over pencil on paper,
mounted on cardboard, 177/s x 12Vs in.
(45.7 x 30.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Highroad and Byroads 237
Hauptweg und Nebenwege
1929 / 90 (R 10)
Oil on canvas, 327/s x 26'/2 in.
(83.7 x 67.5 cm)
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
238 In the Current Six Thresholds
In der Stromung sechs Schwellen
1929 / 92 (S 2)
Oil and tempera on canvas,
17'/a x 17/8 in. (43.5 x 43.5 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
Fire at Evening 239
Feuer Abends
1929 / 95 (S 5)
Oil on cardboard, 13% x 133/4 in.
(34 x 35 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Joachim Jean Aberbach Fund
240 Color Table (on Major Gray) Individualized Measurement of Strata
Farbtafel (auf maiorem Grau) Individualisierte Hohenmessung der
1930 / 83 (R 3) Lagen
Pastels combined with paste on paper, 1930 / 82 (R 2)
mounted on cardboard, 14% x 11% in. Pastels combined with paste on paper,
(37.7 x 30.4 cm) mounted on cardboard, 183/s x 13Vs in.
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung (46.8 x 34.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Rhythmical 241
Rhythmisches
1930 / 203 (E 3)
Oil on canvas, 27/8 x 195/s in.
(69 x 50 cm)
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne
*

242 Polyphonically Enclosed White

Polyphon gefasstes Weiss
1930 /140 (X 10)
Watercolor and pen and India ink on
paper, mounted on cardboard,
13'/8 x 9Ys in. (33.3 x 24.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Vegetal-Strange
Pflanzlich-seltsam
1929 / 317 (3 H 17)
Brush drawing in water-based paint over
watercolor, partly sprayed, on paper,
mounted on cardboard, 13 x 10 in.
(33.1 x 25.6 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
244 Romantic Park
Romantischer Park
1930 / 280 (Oe 10)
Oil on cardboard, 127/s x 195/s in.
(33 x 49.8 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
Ad marginem 245
1930/210 (E 10)
Watercolor and India ink on pasteboard,
17!/s x 127/s in. (43.5 x 33 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
 h/ -L r~Xr»

246 Moving Furniture Uncomposed in Space

Mobelrucken Nichtcomponiertes im Raum
1929/184 (J 4) 1929/124 (C 4)
Pen and watercolor on paper, mounted Watercolor and pen on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 18’/s x 113/4 in. on cardboard, M'A x 93A in.
(46 x 30 cm) (32 x 25 cm)
Private collection, London Private collection, Switzerland
Open Book 247
Offenes Buch
1930 / 206 (E 6)
Gouache over white lacquer on canvas,
177/8 x 16% in. (45.7 x 42.5 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
 f

248 Steerable Grandfather Family Outing / Tempo II

Lenkbarer Grossvater Familienspaziergang / Tempo II
1930/ 252 (J 2) 1930 / 260 (J 10)
Pen and black ink on paper, mounted Pen and colored inks on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 233/4 x 18/4 in. on cardboard, 153/4 x 225/s in.
(60.3 x 46.5 cm), irregular (40.1 x 57.5 cm), irregular
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 L±. _Vvt • Jfc J- 1^-

Vertical and Horizontal Planes Model 106 (Expanded)

in the Studio Modell 106 (erweitert)
Vertical und Horizontal-Flachen im 1931 / 199 (T 19)
Atelier Pen and colored inks on paper, mounted
1931 / 41 (L 1) on cardboard, 18/8 x 245/s in.
Pen and colored inks on paper, mounted (46.2 x 62.7 cm)
on cardboard, 151/2 x 24/8 in. Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
(39.5 x 61.4 cm), irregular
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
250 Flight from Oneself (First State)
Flucht vor sich (erstes Stadium)
1931 / 25 (K 5)
Pen and colored inks on paper, mounted
on cardboard, 165/s x 22% in.
(42.2 x 58.2 cm), irregular
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
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Colorful Life Outside All in Twilight

Draussen buntes Leben Der Ganze dammernd

1931 / 160 (R 20) 1932 /4

Watercolor on paper, mounted on Watercolor on paper, 153/4 x 123/s in.

cardboard, 12/4 x 19/8 in. (40 x 31.7 cm)

(31.3 x 48.8 cm) Private collection, New York
Private collection, Switzerland
252 Classical Coast
Klassische Kuste
1931 / 285 (Y 5)
Oil on canvas, 31% x 271/s in.
(81 x 69 cm)
Private collection, U.S.A.
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Castle Garden
Schlossgarten
1931 / 152 (R 12)
Oil on canvas, 263/s x 21% in.
(67.2 x 54.9 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection Fund
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Polyphony
Polyphonie
1932 / 273 (X 13)
Oil on canvas, 26'/s x 413/t in.
(106 x 66.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
Emanuel Hoffman Stiftung
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Ad Parnassum 255
1932 / 274 (X 14)
Oil on canvas, 393/s x 49% in.
(100 x 126 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Society of Friends
of the Kunstmuseum Bern
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256 Diana
1931 / 287 (Y 7)
Oil on canvas, 31/2 x 235/s in.
(80 x 60 cm)
Private collection, St. Louis
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Anchored 257
Vor Anker
1932 / 22 (K 2)
Oil on canvas, 3672 x 4372 in.
(92.7 x 110.5 cm)
Private collection, U.S.A.
258 Uplift and Way (Sail Flight)
Auftrieb und Weg (Segelflug)
1932 / 190
Oil on canvas, 353/s x 35% in.
(90 x 91 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Commotion in the Studio Signs Intensifying Themselves 259
Bewegung in der Werkstatt Zeichen verdichten sich
1932 / 312 (Z 12) 1932 / 121 (qu 1)
Brush and ink over crayon on paper, Brush and blue ink on paper, mounted
mounted on cardboard, 125/s x 167/s in. on cardboard, 123/s x 19 in.
(32.2 x 42.8 cm) (31.4 x 48.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
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260 Arab Song

Arabisches Lied
1932 / 283 (Y 3)
Gouache on burlap, 353/4 x 25/8 in.
(91 x 64 cm)
The Phillips Collection,
Washington, D.C.
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Mask of Fear
Maske Furcht
1932 / 286 (Y 6)
Oil on burlap, 391/2 x 221/2 in.
(100.4 x 57.1 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Nelson A. Rockefeller Fund
 -I’jJI _Te^U iU*J

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262 Top: Bottom left: Bottom right:

Be They Cursed! Emigrating Double Murder
Fluch ihnen! Auswandern Doppelmord
1933 / 157 (S 17) 1933 / 181 (U 1) 1933 /211 (V 11)
Black crayon on paper, mounted on Black crayon on paper, mounted on Black crayon on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 107/s x 8'A in. cardboard, 127/s x 8]A in. cardboard, 127/s x 8'A in.
(27.6 x 20.9 cm) (32.9 x 21.0 cm) (32.9 x 20.9 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 mw •<* Z..U ^<.7^ l£-5»s*L

Shame Brush, Plate, Cups, Bowls (First 263

Schande Version)
1933 /15 (K 15) Pinsel, Teller, Tassen, Schalen (I. Fassung)
Brush and ink on paper, mounted on 1933 / 8 (K 8)
cardboard, 245/s x 18'v6 in. Watercolor on paper, mounted on
(62.6 x 47.2 cm) cardboard, 19 x 247/s in.
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung (48.4 x 63.4 cm), irregular
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Mountain Village (Autumnal)
Bergdorf (herbstlich)
1934/209 (U 9)
Oil on primed canvas, mounted on
plywood, 2814 x 213/s in.
(71.5 x 54.4 cm)
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne
Blossoming
Bluhendes
1934/ 199 (T 19)
Oil on canvas, 317/s x 31'/2 in.
(81 x 80 cm)
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
266 The Way Out Discovered
Der gefundene Ausweg
1935 /98 (N 18)
Watercolor and charcoal on paper,
121/2 x 187/s in. (32 x 48 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
 I'/ii.l tl , 'Ic-ftr*. t,N

Planting according to Rules

Nach Regeln zu pflanzen
1935 /91 (N 11)
Watercolor on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 10Vs x M1/? in.
(25.8 x 36.9 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern
Hermann und Margrit Rupf Stiftung
 i ill /’ i pllu

268 Menu without Appetite The Helpless Ones

Menu ohne Appetit Die Ratlosen
1934/ 170 (S 10) 1936 /23 (K 3)
Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard, Watercolor on canvas, mounted on
874 x 12% in. (20.9 x 32.8 cm), plywood, 93% x 2VA in. (25 x 54 cm)
irregular Private collection, Switzerland
Private collection, Canada
New Harmony 269
Neue Harmonie
1936/ 24 (K 4)
Oil on canvas, 367/s x 26'/8 in.
(93.6 x 66.3 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
270 Catharsis
Katharsis
1937/40 (K 20)
Colored pencil over paste ground on
paper, mounted on cardboard,
19'/8 x 125/8 in. (48.8 x 32.3 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Picture Album
Bilderbogen
1937 / 133 (Qu 13)
Oil on canvas, 2314 x 22 in.
(59 x 56 cm)
The Phillips Collection,
Washington, D.C.
272 Garden in the Orient
Garten im Orient
1937/167 (S 7)
Pastel on canvas, 14>fe x llVfe in.
(36.1 x 28.2 cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. James W.
Alsdorf, Chicago
Viaducts Break Ranks 273
Bruckenbogen treten aus der Reihe
1937 / 111 (P 11)
Charcoal on cloth mounted on paper,
163/4 x 16’/> in. (42.6 x 42 cm)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York
274 Signs in Yellow
Zeichen in Gelb
1937 / 210 (U 10)
Pastel on burlap, 32% x 19% in.
(83.5 x 50.5 cm)
Collection Beyeler, Basel
-V X, ■ <? r»tL *•' Ufa*. 4^

Boats in the Flood 275

Boote in der Oberflutung
1937 / 222 (V 2)
Gouache and colored paste on
cardboard, 191/2 x 12% in.
(49.5 x 32.5 cm)
Collection Beyeler, Basel
Landscape near Hades
Landschaft gegen den Hades
1937 / 209 (U 9)
Pastel on canvas on burlap,
183/8 x 283/4 in. (46.9 x 73.1 cm)
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute
Museum of Art, Utica, New York
Blue Night 277
Blaue Nacht
1937 /208 (U 8)
Tempera and pastel on canvas on
burlap, 193/4 x 30 in. (50.3 x 76.4 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
278 Legend of the Nile
Legende vom Nil
1937 / 215 (U 15)
Pastel on cotton on burlap,
271/8 x 24 in. (69 x 61 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern
Hermann und Margrit Rupf Stiftung
Harbor with Sailboats
Hafen mit Segelschiffen
1937 / 151 (R 11)
Oil on canvas, 31 Vi x 235/s in.
(80 x 60 cm)
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne
280
Indian
Indianisch
1937 / 181 (T 1)
Pastel on paper, 18% x 12% in.
(48 x 33 cm)
Private collection
ip i . Q It

Landscape with Two Who Are Lost 281

Landschaft mit den beiden Verirrten
1938 / 36 (D 16)
Colored paste on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 12’/2 x 19 in. (32 x 48.5 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
 KMMmEPl

282 Rusting Ships

Rostende Schiffe
1938 / 127 (J 7)
Colored paste on newspaper on burlap,
21% x 531/2 in. (55 x 136 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Rich Harbor 283
Reicher Hafen
1938 / 147 (K 7)
Tempera on paper and canvas,
293A x 64% in. (75.5 x 165 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel
284 Heroic Strokes of the Bow
Heroische Bogenstriche
1938 / 1 (1)
Tempera on paper on cloth with gesso
backing, 283/4 x 203/4 in. (73 x 52.7 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Nelson A. Rockefeller Bequest
The Gray One and the Coast
Der Graue und die Kuste
1938/ 125 (J 5)
Colored paste on burlap,
40% x 27% in. (104 x 70 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Growth Is Stirring
Wachstum regt sich
1938/78 (F 18)
Colored paste on newspaper, mounted
on cardboard, 127/s x 19 in.
(33 x 48.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Intention 287
Vorhaben
1938/ 126 (J 6)
Colored paste on newspaper on burlap,
291/2 x 44 in. (75 x 112 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
288 Fire Source
Feuer Quelle
1938 / 132 J 12
Oil on newspaper on burlap,
273/s x 58% in. (69.5 x 149.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
Insula Dulcamara 289
1938/481 (C 1)
Oil and black paste on newspaper,
mounted on burlap, 345/s x 69/4 in.
(88 x 176 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
290 Earth Witches
Erd-Hexen
1938/ 108 (H 8)
Watercolor and oil, varnished, on paper,
mounted on cardboard, 19 x 12'/4 in.
(48.5 x 31.2 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Capriccio in February 291
Capriccio im Februar
1938/ 128 (J 8)
Oil on newspaper on burlap,
393/8 x 2914 in. (100 x 74.3 cm)
Morton G. Neumann Family Collection,
Chicago
292 Pomona, Overripe (Slightly Inclined)
Pomona, uberreif (leicht geneigt)
1938/ 134 (J 14)
Oil on newspaper on burlap,
263/o x 20’/2 in. (68 x 52 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
The Key (Broken Key) 293
Der Schlussel (Zerbrochener Schlussel)
1938/ 136 (J 16)
Oil on burlap, 193/4 x 26'/8 in.
(50.4 x 66.4 cm)
Sprengel Museum Hannover
 l\

294 ABC for a Wall Painter "So May It Secretly Begin"

ABC fur Wandmaler "So Fang Es Heimlich an"
1938 / 320 (T 20) 1938/ 189 (M 9)
Oil and watercolor on burlap, Water-based paint on paper, mounted
22 x 147/s in. (56 x 37.8 cm) on cardboard, 19 x 243/4 in.
Collection Rosengart, Lucerne (48.3 x 62.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
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One Girl, Two Schnapps Le Rouge et le noir 295

Ein Madchen, zwei Schnapse 1938 /319 (T 19)
1938 / 224 (P 4) Oil and watercolor on burlap,
Colored paste on burlap, 20/2 x 133/s in. 123/4 x 243/4 in. (32.5 x 63 cm)
(52 x 34 cm) Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal,
Private collection, Switzerland West Germany
296 Dancing from Fear Promenade
Tanze vor Angst 1938/89 (G 9)
1938/90 (G 10) Watercolor on paper, mounted on
Watercolor on paper, mounted on cardboard, 9 x 12/2 in. (23 x 32 cm)
cardboard, 187/s x 12/8 in. (48 x 31 cm) Private collection, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
The Timid Brute 297
Der furchtsame Grausame
1938 / 138 (J 18)
Oil and gouache on canvas,
22/4 x 29 in. (56.5 x 73.6 cm)
Private collection, New York
298 Protected Children
Geschutzte Kinder
1939 / 345 (Y 5)
Oil on burlap, 295/s x 39/2 in.
(75.2 x 100.4 cm)
Private collection, U.S.A.
Flowers in Stone 299
Blumen in Stein
1939 / 638 (GG 18)
Oil on cardboard, 19/2 x 15% in.
(49.6 x 39.8 cm)
Stiftung Sammlung Bernhard Sprengel,
Hanover
300 Underwater Garden
Unterwasser-Garten
1939/ 746 (NN 6)
Oil on canvas, 407/s x 33 in.
(104 x 84 cm), irregular
Private collection
Gigantic Plants
Riesen-Pflanzen
1940/ 266 (L 6)
Colored paste on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 18% x 245/s in.
(48 x 62.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
302 At the Hunter Tree
Zum Jagerbaum
1939/557 (CC 17)
Oil on canvas, 39% x 31% in.
(100 x 80 cm)
Kunsthaus Zurich
Luna of the Barbarians Mephisto as Pallas 303
Luna der Barbaren Mephisto als Pallas
1939 / 284 (v 4) 1939 / 855 (UU 15)
Gouache on paper, mounted on board, Watercolor and tempera on paper,
123/4 x 8’/4 in. (32.5 x 21 cm) mounted on cardboard, 19 x 12Vfe in.
Private collection, Philadelphia (48.4 x 30.9 cm)
Ulmer Museum, Ulm, West Germany
304 As I Rode on the Ass The Snake Goddess and Her Foe Injured Dancing Fruit
Als ich auf dem Esel ritt Die Schlangengottin und ihr Feind Verletzt Tanzende Fruchte
1940/313 1940/317 (H 17) 1940/316 (H 16) 1940 / 312 (H 12)
Black paste on paper, mounted on Colored paste on paper, mounted on Black paste on paper, mounted on Black paste on paper, mounted on
cardboard, IIV2 x 16/8 in. (29 x 41 cm) cardboard, 133/s x 207/s in. (34 x 53 cm) cardboard, 163/8 x 115/s in. cardboard, 11 Vs x 163/s in.
Private collection, Switzerland Private collection, Switzerland (41.7 x 29.5 cm) (29.5 x 41.8 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern
Hermann und Margrit Rupf Stiftung
Destroyed Labyrinth 305
Zerstortes Labyrinth
1939 / 346 (Y 6)
Oil and water-based paint, varnished, on
paper with oil ground, mounted on
burlap, 2VA x 27'/2 in. (54 x 70 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 rrtfpe Vli jvu/rv^' |^CH^7vet-

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306 Eidola: Erstwhile Musician Eidola: Erstwhile Harpist Eidola: KNAYHPOE, Erstwhile Eidola: Erstwhile Pianist
Eidola: weiland Musiker Eidola: weiland Harfner Kettledrummer Eidola: weiland Pianist
1940/81 (VI) 1940 /100 (V 20) Eidola: KNAYHPOE, weiland Pauker 1940/104 (U 4)
Black crayon on paper, mounted on Black crayon on paper, mounted on 1940/102 (U 2) Black crayon on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 11 Vs x 814 in. (29.7 x 21 cm) cardboard, 11% x 8Vi in. (29.7 x 21 cm) Black crayon on paper, mounted on cardboard, 11% x 8Vi in. (29.7 x 21 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung cardboard, 11% x 8Vi in. (29.7 x 21 cm) Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Outbreak of Fear III Outbreak of Fear 307
Angstausbruch III Angstausbruch
1939/124 (M 4) 1939 / 27 (G 7)
Watercolor over egg ground on paper, Pen and ink on paper, mounted on
mounted on cardboard, 25 x 187/s in. cardboard, 105/s x 8% in. (27 x 21.5 cm)
(63.5 x 48.1 cm) Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Intoxication
Im Rausch
1939 /1
Tempera on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 14iA x 20% in.
(36.2 x 52.7 cm)
Private collection
 lICC-fiS. .

Fleeing UR-OX UR-OX, Half from Behind Shield-UR-OX Hold Out! 309
Fliehender URCHS URCHS, halb von hinten Schild-URCHS Durchhalten!
1939 / 1080 (FG 20) 1939 / 1078 (FG 8) 1939 / 1079 (FG 19) 1940/337 (G 17)
Brush and brown paste on paper, Brush and colored paste on paper, Brush and brown paste on paper, Black pastel on paper, mounted on
mounted on cardboard, 8'/s x 11% in. mounted on cardboard, 8Va x 11% in. mounted on cardboard, 81/s x 11% in. cardboard, 11% x 8'A in.
(20.8 x 29.5 cm) (21 x 29.5 cm) (20.8 x 29.5 cm) (29.6 x 20.9 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Private collection, Switzerland Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 J; d.2 *i» •- in • •V ‘H't-U.

310 Angel, Still Female

Engel, noch weiblich
1939 / 1016 (CD 16)
Colored lithographic crayon over blue
paste on paper, mounted on cardboard,
163/s x 11/2 in. (41.7 x 29.4 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Vigilant Angel
Wachsamer Engel
1939 / 859 (UU 19)
Pen and tempera on black newspaper,
19 x 12% in. (48.5 x 33 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
 L ir 2 <*-*• • <■ /’f’ '* < L*_

312 The Cupboard The Carpet

Der Schrank Der Teppich
1940 / 276 (L 16) 1940 / 275 (L 15)
Colored paste on paper, mounted on Colored paste on paper, 115/s x I6/2 in.
board, 161/4 x 115/s in. (41.5 x 29.5 cm) (29.5 x 42 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland Private collection, Switzerland
Locksmith Wandering Artist: A Poster 313
Schlosser Wander-Artist, ein Plakat
1940 / 274 (L 14) 1940/273 (L 13)
Colored paste on paper, mounted on Colored paste on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 187/s x 12 in. (48 x 30.5 cm) cardboard, 12V6 x 113/s in. (31 x 29 cm)
Kunstmuseum Basel Private collection, Switzerland
 'Iq/-- C V-16 “'i Opv^C

314 Double
Doppel
1940/236 (N 16)
Colored paste on paper, mounted on
cardboard, 20% x 13% in.
(52.4 x 34.6 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Glass Facade
315
Glas-Fassade
1940 / 288 (K 8)
Encaustic on burlap, 27% x 37% in.
(71 x 95 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
316 Here and Beyond (Captured) Muddle Fish
Diesseits-Jenseits (Gefangen) Schlamm-Assel-Fisch
1940/N 1940/323 (G 3)
Colored paste on burlap, 215/s x 195/s in. Colored paste on paper, mounted on
(55 x 50 cm) cardboard, 133/8 x 21 in. (34 x 53.5 cm)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel Collection Beyeler, Basel
O! These Rumors! 317
0! die Geruchte!
1939 / 1015 (CD 15)
Oil and tempera on burlap,
293/4 x 21% in. (75.5 x 55 cm)
Collection Beyeler, Basel
318 Flora on the Rocks
Flora am Felsen
1940/343 (F 3)
Oil and tempera on burlap,
353/s x 21 Vi in. (90 x 70 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Untitled (Composition with Fruit) 319
Ohne Titel (Komposition mit Fruchten)
1940 /N
Colored paste on packing paper,
40/2 x 58/4 in. (103 x 148 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
320 High Guardian Angel, Still Ugly
Hoher Wachter Engel, noch hasslich
1940/ 257 (M 17) 1940/26 (Y 6)
Encaustic on canvas, 271/2 x 195/a in. Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard,
(70 x 50 cm) 11% x 8'A in. (29.6 x 20.9 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Untitled (Still Life) 321
Ohne Titel (Stilleben)
1940/ N
Oil on canvas, 39% x 315/s in.
(100 x 80.5 cm)
Private collection, Switzerland
 A : ■1 • s

322 Everything Comes Running After!

Alles lauft nach!
1940/325 (G 5)
Brush and black paste over colored-
paste ground, mounted on cardboard,
12% x 16% in. (32 x 42.4 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
Death and Fire 323
Tod und Feuer
1940 / 332 (G 12)
Oil, drawing in black paste on burlap,
surrounded by colored-paste ground,
mounted on burlap, 18Ys x 17Vi in.
(46 x 44 cm)
Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stiftung
 Chronology

1879 December 18: Paul Klee is born at

Munchenbuchsee, near Bern, Switzer¬
land. His mother, Ida Marie Frick Klee, is
Swiss; his father, Hans Klee, a music
teacher, is German. Paul's sister Mathilde
was born in 1876.
1880 Family moves to Bern.
1898 Spring: Graduates from Literarschule
(humanities program) of Bern Gym¬
nasium (secondary school).
October: Moves to Munich; studies art
with Heinrich Knirrand later with Franz-
Stuck at Munich Academy. Begins Tage-
bucher (diaries), maintained through
1918.
1901 October: Departs for travel in Italy with
sculptor Hermann Haller. In May 1902,
returns to live in Bern.
1905 May 31 -June 13: Trip to Paris with Hans
Bloesch and Louis Moilliet.
1906 April: Trip to Berlin.
September 15: Marriage to Lily Stumpf,
Munich pianist he has known since Paul Klee, Bern, 1881 Paul Klee, Bern, 1892
1899. They settle in Schwabing, artists'
quarter of Munich.
1907 November 30: Birth of Felix Klee.
1909 March: Felix becomes seriously ill. Klee
assumes full responsibility for his care,
and they spend summer in Bern.
1911 Spring: Begins oeuvre catalogue, de¬
tailed record of his work, maintaining it
until his death. Retroactively records
work dating back to 1883.
Autumn: Moilliet introduces Klee to Au¬
gust Macke and Wassily Kandinsky;
soon after meets Franz Marc and Alexey
Jawlensky. Becomes affiliated with Blaue
Reiter (Blue Rider) group.
Reviews Munich cultural events for Bern
newspaper Die Alpen.
1912 February: Takes partin second Blaue Rei¬
ter exhibition at Galerie Goltz, Munich.
April 2-18: Second trip to Paris. Visits
Robert Delaunay's studio.
1914 April: Travels to Tunisia with Moillietand
Macke. Visits Tunis, St. Germain,
Hamamet, and Kairouan.
May: Founding member of New Munich
Secession.
1916 March 4: Franz Marc killed at Verdun;
Klee profoundly affected.
324 March 11: Klee drafted into German in¬
fantry reserves in Landshut.
Summer: Transferred to Munich, then to
air-force reserves in Schleissheim; paints
aircraft and accompanies military trans¬ Quintet at the Knirr studio, Munich, 1900. Paul Klee in right foreground
ports to front.
1917 January: Transferred to flying school in
Gersthofen; clerk in paymaster's office.

1918 December: Discharged from military

duty.
 Klee and Hermann Haller at the Villa Medici,
Rome, February 1902, Photograph by Karl Schmoll

Gabriele Munter. Man in an Armchair (Paul Klee),

1913. 011 on linen, Bayerische
Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich

Hans, Lily, and Paul Klee, Bern, September 1906

325

Klee in Tunisia, April 1914. Photograph by Louis Moilliet Klee in uniform, Landshut, 1916
 1919 Spring: Rents large studio in Suresnes
Castle in Munich.
April 12: Joins artists' advisory body of
Raterrepublik, socialist government of
Bavaria.
June 11: Leaves Munich briefly after
failure of Raterrepublik.
Summer: Oskar Schlemmer and Willi
Baumeister seek appointment for Klee
at Stuttgart Academy; faculty refuses.
Klee signs three-year contract with
dealer Hans Goltz in Munich.

1920 May-June: Exhibition at Goltz's Galerie

Neue Kunst in Munich (362 works).
October: Invited by Walter Gropius and
Bauhaus faculty to teach at Staatliche
Bauhaus Weimar, founded previous year.
"Creative Credo" appears in anthology
Schopferische Konfession, published by
Tribune der Kunst und Zeit.
Leopold Zahn and Hans von Wedderkop
write first monographs on Klee.

1921 Publication of Wilhelm Hausenstein's

monograph on Klee.
January: Assumes post at Bauhaus,
commuting from Munich. Klee's studio in Suresnes Castle, Munich, 1920. Photograph by Paul Klee
March 1 5: Death of Klee's mother.
September: Lily and Felix join Klee in
Weimar.

1923 August 15-September 30: First Bau¬

haus festival and exhibition. Commem¬
orative publication includes Klee's "Ways
of Nature Study."
Autumn: Holiday on Baltrum Island in
North Sea.

1924 January 7-February 7: First Klee exhibi¬

tion in America, organized by Katherine
Dreier of Societe Anonyme, at
Heckscher Building on West 57th Street,
New York.
January 26: Klee delivers lecture "On
Modern Art" to inaugurate exhibition at
Kunstverein Jena in Germany.
March 31: Klee signs agreement with
Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, and Alexey
Jawlensky to form "Blue Four," which
Klee and Galka Scheyer, Weimar, 1922. Photograph by Felix Klee
Galka Scheyer will represent in America.
Summer: Travels in Sicily.
December 26: Bauhaus Weimar of
ficially closed.

1925 April: Bauhaus moves to Dessau.

October-November: First exhibition in
France, at Galerie Vavin-Raspail, Paris.
November: Included in first Surrealist ex¬
hibition, at Galerie Pierre, Paris.
Pedagogical Sketchbook, designed by
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, published as sec¬
ond in series of Bauhaus Books edited by
Gropius and Moholy-Nagy.
Signs contract with dealer Alfred
Flechtheim.
326 1926 July: Klee family moves into two-family
house designed by Gropius; shares it
with Wassily and Nina Kandinsky.
October-November: Travels to Italy
with Lily.
December 4: Dessau Bauhaus inaugu¬
rates new building designed by Gropius.

1927 Summer: Travels to Porquerolles and

Corsica.
su'Vcr-
It MOW

Klee in his Weimar Bauhaus studio, 1924. Photograph by Felix Klee Klees studio in Dessau Bauhaus, August 1926. Photograph by Felix Klee

George Grosz, Alfred Flechtheim, and Klee, Dessau, July 1929

Kandinsky and Klee posing as Schiller and Goethe

on the beach at Hendaye, France, 1929. Photograph by Lily Klee
Wassily Kandinsky and his wife Nina, Georg Muche,
Klee, and Walter Gropius, Dessau Bauhaus, December 1926
 1928 February: BauhausjournalZeitschriftfur
Gestaltung publishes Klee's "exact ex¬
periments in the realm of art."
July-August: Travels to Paris and Brit¬
tany.
December 17: Begins month-long visit
to Egypt.

1929 January: Returns from Egypt via Italy.

Summer: Holiday in Basque country.
Will Grohmann's monograph on Klee
published in Paris by Cahiers d'Art.

1930 Spring: Invited to teach at Dusseldorf

Academy.
Summer: Holiday in northern Italy.

1931 April 1: Terminates contract with

Bauhaus and begins to teach in Dus¬
seldorf, maintaining residence in Des¬
sau.
Summer: Travels to Sicily.

1932 October: Travels to Zurich, to see Picasso

exhibition,and then to northern Italy.

1933 January 30: Adolf Hitler assumes power

in Germany. Paul Klee, Dessau, 1933. Photograph by Josef Albers
March: Nazi officers search Klee house
in Dessau.
April 21: Klee suspended from Dus¬
seldorf Academy by new director, Nazi
appointee.
May 1: Moves from Dessau to Dus¬
seldorf.
October: Travels to Paris and southern
France: visits Picasso and signs contract
with dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler,
Galerie Simon.
December 23: Leaves Germany. Moves
to father's house in Bern.

1934 Early spring: Klees move to house at

Kistlerweg 6, Bern.
Nazis confiscate Grohmann's new
monograph on Klee's drawings.

1935 Onset of illness later diagnosed as

scleroderma.

1936 Illness worsens; works very little.

1937 February: Kandinsky, in Bern for retro¬

Paul and Lily Klee, Dessau, 1933. Photograph by Bobby Aichinger
spective at Kunsthalle, visits Klee.
July: Nazi Degenerate Art (Entartete
Kunst) exhibition opens in Munich; in¬
cludes seventeen works by Klee.
Summer: Resumes painting.
September: Travels to Ascona.
November 28: Picasso visits Klee in Bern.
Nazis remove modern art from state col¬
lections throughout Germany, including
102 works by Klee.

1938 Summer: Holiday in St. Beatenberg.

1939 April: Georges Braque visits Klee.

Summer: Visits Geneva twice to see ex¬
hibition of works from Prado.
Produces prodigious volume of work,
328
particularly drawings: oeuvre catalogue
lists 1,253 items.

1940 January 7: Klee submits application to

Bern city officials for Swiss citizenship
but is never granted it.
January 12: Death of father, Hans Klee.
May: Enters sanitarium at Orselina.
June 29: Klee dies in hospital at Muralto-
Locarno. Paul and Felix Klee, Bern, 1934. Photograph by Bobby Aichinger
Paul and Lily Klee and their cat Bimbo, Bern, 1935. Lily, Hans, and Paul Klee, Bern, 1935
Photograph by F. Meisel

329

Paul Klee with Will Grohmann, Bern, Summer Paul Klee, Bern, December 1939
1938. Photograph by Felix Klee
 Bibliography

This selected bibliography is intended as an in¬ ESSAYS

troduction to the vast literature on Paul Klee and
"Uber das Licht," Klee's translation of "Sur la lumiere,"
his work. The most comprehensive bibliography by Robert Delaunay, in Der Sturm (Berlin), no. 144-45
in English to date is that compiled by Bernard (January 1913), pp. 255-56. Reprinted in Geelhaar
Karpel for The Nature of Nature, ed. Jurg Spiller 1976, pp. 116-17.

(1973). "Uber den Wert der Kritik: Antworten auf eine

The first section below comprises anthologies Rundfrage an die Kunstler," Der Ararat (Munich), vol. 2
of Klee's writings, major individual texts by Klee, (1921), p. 130. Reprinted in Geelhaar 1976, p. 123.

and books illustrated by him. The second section "Schopferische Konfession," in Tribune der Kunst und
lists major monographs on the artist and se¬ Zeit XIII: Schopferische Konfession, ed. Kasimir
Edschmid. Berlin: Erich Reiss, 1920. Reprinted in
lected works that are relevant to the issues
Geelhaar 1976, pp. 18-22; as "Creative Credo," in
raised in this book. The third section lists articles
Spiller, The Thinking Eye, pp. 76-80.
and essays, emphasizing early works of histor¬
"Wege des Naturstudiums," in Staatliche Bauhaus
ical importance, articles that appeared in Amer¬
Weimar 1919-1923. Weimar and Munich:
ican publications, and works of recent schol¬ Bauhausverlag, 1923. Reprinted in Geelhaar 1976,
arship. pp. 124-26; as "Ways of Nature Study," in Spiller, The
Thinking Eye, pp. 63-67.

Uber die moderne Kunst. Text of lecture given at

By the Artist Kunstverein Jena, 1924. First edition in German: Bern-
Bumpliz: Benteli, 1945. In English: On Modern Art.
Trans. Paul Findlay, intro. Herbert Read. London: Faber
ANTHOLOGIES
and Faber, 1948.
Geelhaar, Christian, ed. Paul Klee: Schriften, Rezen-
Padagogisches Skizzenbuch, Bauhausbucher 2.
sionen undAufsatze. Cologne: DuMont, 1976. Artist's
Munich: Langen, 1925. In Pedagogical
English:
writings: reviews and essays.
Sketchbook, intro, and trans. Sibyl Moholy-Nagy. New
Giedion-Welcker, Carola, ed. Poetes a I'ecart; An- York: Praeger, 1953. Reprinted London: Faber and
thologie der Abseitigen. Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1946. Faber, 1984.
Revised edition, Zurich: Die Arche, 1964.
"Kandinsky," in Katalog Jubilaumsausstellungzum 60.
Glaesemer, Jurgen, ed. Paul Klee: Beitrage zur Geburtstag von W. Kandinsky. Dresden: Galerie Ar¬
bildnerlschen Formlehre. Basel and Stuttgart: nold, 1926. Reprinted in Geelhaar 1976, pp. 127-28.
Schwabe, 1979. Facsimile edition of lecture notes and
"Emil Nolde," in Festschrift fur Emil Nolde, anlasslich
other writings at Weimar Bauhaus, 1921-22.
seines 60. Geburtstages. Dresden: Neue Kunst Fides,
Hollo, Anselm, ed. and trans. Some Poems by Paul 1927. Reprinted in Geelhaar 1976, p. 129.
Klee. Suffolk, England: Scorpion Press, 1962.
"exakte versuche im bereich der kunst," in Bauhaus:
Klee, Felix, ed. Paul Klee: Gedichte. Zurich: Die Arche, Zeitschrift fur Gestaltung (Dessau) vol. 2, no. 203
1960. Artist's poems. (1928), p. 17. Reprinted in Geelhaar 1976, pp. 130-32;
as "Exact Experiments in the Realm of Art," in Spiller,
-. Paul Klee: His Life and Work in Documents.
The Thinking Eye, pp. 69-70.
New York: Braziller, 1962. Translation of Paul Klee:
Leben und Werke in Dokumenten. Zurich: Diogenes, ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
1960. In French: Paul Klee par lui-meme et par son fils
Corrinth, Curt. Potsdamer Platz, oder die Nachte des
Felix Klee, ed. Maurice Besset. Paris: Les Librairies
neuen Messias: Ekstatische Visionen. Munich: Muller,
associees, 1963.
1919 (10 illustrations).
-. The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918. Berkeley
Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg). The Novices of
and Los Angeles: University of California Press;
Sais. Preface by Stephen Spender, trans. Ralph Man¬
London: Peter Owen, 1964. Translation of Tagebucher
heim. New York: Curt Valentin, 1949 (frontispiece by
von Paul Klee, 1898-1918. Cologne: DuMont Schau-
Andre Masson; 60 Klee drawings selected by Valen¬
berg; Zurich: Europa, 1957.
tin).
-. Paul Klee: Briefe an die Familie 1893-1940.
Tzara, Tristan. L'Homme approximatif. Paris: DeNoel
Vol. 1: 1893-1906; vol. 2: 1907-1940. Cologne:
et Steele, 1931 (one engraving). Limited edition of ten.
DuMont, 1979. Artist's letters to his family.
Voltaire. Kandide, oder die beste Welt. Munich: Kurt
Spiller, Jurg, ed. The Thinking Eye: The Notebooks of
Wolff, 1920 (26 ink drawings). English edition, trans.
Paul Klee. Trans. Ralph Manheim with Dr. Charlotte
Tobias Smollett, New York: Pantheon, 1944.
Weidler and Joyce Wittenborn. London: Lun.d-Hum-
phries; New York: Wittenborn, 1961. Translation of 331
Das bildnerische Denken. Basel and Stuttgart:
Schwabe, 1956. Books
-. The Nature of Nature: The Notebooks of Paul Abadie, Daniel. Paul Klee. Paris: Maeght, 1977.
Klee, Volume 2. Trans. Heinz Norden. London: Lund-
Humphries; New York: Wittenborn, 1973. Translation Alfieri, Bruno. Paul Klee. Venice: Istituto Tipografico,
of Unendliche Naturgeschichte. Basel and Stuttgart: 1948.
Schwabe, 1970.
Armitage, Merle, ed. 5 Essays on Klee. New York:
Watts, Harriet, ed. Three Painter Poets: Arp, Schwit¬ Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1950. Essays by Armitage,
ters, Klee: Selected Poems. Harmondsworth, En¬ Clement Greenberg, Howard Devree, Nancy Wilson
gland: Penguin, 1974. Ross, and James Johnson Sweeney.
 -. The Drawings of Paul Klee. Trans. Mimi Catlin Mehring, Walter. Klee Bern: Scherz, 1956.
Ball, Hugo. Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary. Ed. John
Elderfield, trans. Ann Raimes. New York: Viking, 1974. and MargitvonTernes. New York: Curt Valentin, 1944.
Naubert-Riser, Constance La Creation chez Paul Klee.
Translation of Die Flucht aus derZeit. Munich-Leipzig: Translation of Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen
Paris: Klincksieck, 1978.
Duncker und Humblot, 1927. 1921-1930. Berlin: Muller und Kiepenheuer, 1934
New York, The Museum of Modern Art. Paul Klee:
Baumgartner, Marcel. Paul Klee unddiePhotographie. -. Paul Klee. New York: Abrams, 1954 Transla¬
Three Exhibitions—1930, 1941, 1949. New York: The
Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1979. tion of Paul Klee. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1954.
Museum of Modern Art and Arno Press, 1968. Catalog
Bern, Klee-Gesellschaft. Paul Klee, 7. Teil: Dokumente -. Paul Klee: Drawings. New York: Abrams, reprints. Texts by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., James J. Sweeney,
und Bilderaus den Jahren 1896-1930. Bern-Bumpliz: 1960. Translation of Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen. Co¬ Julia and Lyonel Feininger, and James T. Soby.
Benteli, 1949. Paul Klee, 2. Teil: Bilder und logne: DuMont Schauberg, 1959.
New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Zeichnungen aus den Jahren 1930—1940, ed. Max Klee at the Guggenheim Museum. New York: The
-. Paul Klee. New York: Abrams, 1967
Huggler. Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1960. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1977. Texts by Dr.
Grate, Ludwig, ed. Erinnerungen an Paul Klee Louise Averill Svendsen and Thomas M. Messer.
Bernoulli, Rudolf. Mein Weg zu Klee. Bern-Bumpliz:
Munich: Prestel, 1959.
Benteli, 1940. Nierendorf, Karl, ed. Paul Klee: Paintings, Watercolors,
Guggenheim, Peggy. Art of This Century. New York: 1913 to 1939. New York: Oxford University Press,
Bloesch, Hans, and Georg Schmidt. Paul Klee: Reden
Art Aid, 1942. Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1968. 1941.
zu semem Todestag. Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1940.
Haftmann, Werner. The Mind and Work of Paul Klee. Osterwold, Tilman. Paul Klee, ein Kind traumt sich.
Brion, Marcel. Klee. Paris: Somogy, 1955.
New York: Praeger, 1954. Translation of Paul Klee: Stuttgart: Gerd Hatje, 1979.
Campbell, Sara, ed. The Blue Four, Galka Scheyer Wege bildnerischen Denkens. Munich: Prestel, 1950.
Collection. Pasadena, California: Norton Simon Mu¬ Paul Klee. Puppets, Sculptures, Reliefs, Masks, The¬
-, ed The Inward Vision: Watercolors, Draw¬ atre Preface by Pierre von Allmen and ntro. by Felix
seum of Art, 1976.
ings, Writings by Paul Klee. Trans. Norbert Guterman Klee Neuchatel: Galere Suisse de Paris, 1979.
Cassou, Jean. Hommage a Paul Klee. Boulogne-sur- New York: Abrams, 1958.
Seine, France: L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, 1949. Petitpierre, Petra Aus der Malklasse von Paul Klee
Hanover, Kunstmuseum Hannover mit Sammlung Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1957.
Cheney, Sheldon. A Primer of Modern Art. New York: Sprengel. Paul Klee Bestandskatalog. Hanover Kunst-
Boni and Liveright, 1927. musem Hannover, 1980. Pfeiffer-Belt, Erich. Klee, eineBildbiographie. Munich:
Kindler, 1964.
Chevalier, Denys. Klee. New York: Crown, 1971. Hausenstein, Wilhelm. Kairuan, odereine Geschichte
vom Maler Klee und von der Kunst dieses Zeitalters. Pierce, James Smith Paul Klee and Primitive Art. New
Cooper, Douglas. Paul Klee. Harmondsworth, En¬ Munich: Kurt Wolff, 1921. York: Garland, 1976.
gland: Penguin, 1949, 1950, 1952.
Haxthausen, Charles Werner. Paul Klee: The Formative Plant, Margaret Paul Klee: Figures and Faces.
Crevel, Rene. Paul Klee. Paris: Gallimard, 1930. Years. New York: Garland, 1981. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.
Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen. Herbert, Robert L., Eleanor S. Apter, and Elise K. Ken¬ Ponente, Nello. Klee. Biographical and Critical Study.
Paul Klee Bilder-Aquarelle-Zeichnungen. Text by ney. The Societe Anonyme and the Dreier Bequest at Geneva and Lausanne: Skira, 1960.
Werner Schmalenbach. Dusseldorf: Kunstsammlung Yale University: A Catalogue Raisonne. New Haven,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, 1977. Read, Herbert. Klee (1879-1940) with an Introduction
Connecticut, and London: Yale University Press, 1984
and Notes. London: Faber and Faber, 1948
Duvignaud, Jean. Kleeen Tunisie. Lausanne-Paris: Bib- Reprints statement on Klee by Marcel Duchamp from
catalog of Societe Anonyme Collection, Yale University Roethel, Hans Konrad. Paul Klee. W esbaden: Vollmer,
liotheque des Arts, 1980.
Art Gallery, 1950. 1955
Ferrier, Jean-Louis, et al. Paul Klee: Les Annees 20.
Hofmann, Werner. Paul Klee: Traumlandschaft mit - Paul Klee in Munchen Bern: Stampfli, 1971.
Paris: DeNoel, 1971.
Mond. Frankfurt-am-Main: Insel-Verlag, 1964
Forge, Andrew. Klee (1879-1940). London: Faber and Rosenthal, Mark. Paul Klee. Washington D.C.: The
Huggler, Max. Paul Klee: Die Malerei als Blick in den Phillips Collection, 1981.
Faber, 1954.
Kosmos. Frauenfeld and Stuttgart: Huber, 1969.
Geelhaar, Christian. Paul Klee and the Bauhaus. San Lazzaro, Gualtieri di. Klee: A Study of His Life and
Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic, and Hulton, Nika. An Approach to Paul Klee. New York: Work. Trans. Stuart Hood. New York: Praeger;
Bath, England: Adams & Dart, 1973. Pitman, 1956. London: Thames and Hudson, 1957, 1964.

-. Paul Klee: Life and Work. Trans. W. Walter Jaffe, Hans L. Klee. London and New York: Hamlyn, Schmidt, Georg. Ten Reproductions in Facsimile of
Jaffe. Woodbury, New York: Barron's, 1982. Transla¬ 1971. Paintings by Paul Klee. Trans. Richard Allen and Doug¬
tion of Paul Klee, Leben und Werk. Cologne: DuMont las Cooper. New York: Wittenbom, 1946. Translation
Jordan, Jim M. Paul Klee and Cubism. Princeton, New
Schauberg, 1974. of Zehn Farbenlichtdrucke nach Gemalden von Paul
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1984
Klee Basel: Holbein, 1946.
Geist, Hans-Friedrich. Paul Klee. Hamburg: Haus- Kagan, Andrew. Paul Klee: Art and Music. Ithaca, New
wedell, 1948. - Paul Klee Engel bnngt das Gewunschte.
York: Cornell University Press, 1983.
Baden-Baden: Woldemar Klein, 1953.
Giedion-Welcker, Carola. Paul Klee. New York: Viking, Kahnweiler, Daniel-Henry. Klee. Paris: Braun; New
1952. Published in German: Stuttgart: Gode, 1954. Soby, James Thrall. The Prints of Paul Klee. New York:
York: Herrmann, 1950.
Curt Valentin, 1945.
-. Paul Klee in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddoku- Kandinsky, Wassily, and Franz Marc, eds. The Blaue
menten. Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1961. Thurlemann, Felix. Paul Klee: Analyse semiotique de
Reiter Almanac. New documentary edition, Klaus
trois peintures. Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, 1982
Lankheit, ed. New York: Viking, 1974. Translation of
Glaesemer, Jurgen. Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen I:
Der Blaue Reiter. Munich: R. Piper, 1912. Tower, Beeke Sell. Klee and Kandinsky in Munich and
Kindheit bis 1920. Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1973.
at the Bauhaus. Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research
-. Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen II: 1921-1936. Klee, Felix, ed. Paul Klee: 22 Zeichnungen. Stuttgart:
Press, 1981.
Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1984. Eidos, 1948.
Verdi, Richard. Klee and Nature. New York: Rizzoli,
-. Paul Klee: Handzeichnungen III: 1937-1940. - Paul Klee Rosenwind. Basel and Vienna:
T985.
Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1979. Herder Freiburg, 1984.
Walden, Herwarth, ed. Paul Klee: Sturm Bilderbuch 3.
-. Paul Klee: The Colored Works in the Kunst¬ Kornfeld, Eberhard W. Paul Klee: Bern und Um-
Berlin: Verlag der Sturm, 1918
museum Bern. Trans. Renate Franciscono. Bern: gebung—Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, 1897-1915
332 Bern: Stampfli, 1962. Walterskirchen, Katalina de. Paul Klee New York:
Kornfeld, 1979. Translation of Paul Klee: Die farbigen
Werke im Kunstmuseum Bern. Bern: Kornfeld, 1976. Rizzoli; Paris: E.RI. Editions Filipacd, 1975.
- Verzeichnis des graphischen Werkes von Paul
-, and Max Huggler. Der padagogische Nachlass Klee. Bern: Kornfeld und Klipstein, 1963. Wedderkop, Hans von. Paul Klee. Leipzig:
von Paul Klee. Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1977. Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1920. Published also in Jahr-
Lynton, Norbert. Klee. London and New York:
buch der jungen Kunst (Leipzig), vol. 1 (1920), pp.
Goldwater, Robert J. Primitivism in Modern Painting. Hamlyn, 1964. Reprinted Memphis: Castle Books,
225-36, and in Der Cicerone (Leipzig), vol. 12, no. 14
New York: Harper, 1938. Reprinted as Primitivism in 1975.
(1920), pp. 527-38.
Modem Art. New York: Vintage, 1967. Masson, Andre. Eulogy of Paul Klee. Trans. Walter
Werckmeister, O. K. Versuche uber Paul Klee. Frank¬
Grohmann, Will. Paul Klee. Paris: Cahiers d'Art, 1929. Pach. New York: Curt Valentin, 1950. Translation of
furt-am-Main: Syndikat, 1981.
Texts by Louis Aragon, Rene Crevel, Paul Eluard, Jean "Eloge de Paul Klee," Fontaine (Paris), vol. 10, no. 53
Lurcat, Philippe Soupault, Tristan Tzara, Roger Vitrac. (June 1946), pp. 105-08. Zahn, Leopold Paul Klee: Leben, Werk. Geist. Pots-
dam: Kiepenheuer, 1920. on Klee. Essays by Carola Giedion-Welcker, Arnold -, and William Kennon. "Fermata in the Art of
Kubler, Max Huggler, Felix Klee, Rolf Burgi, Alexander Paul Klee," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 56, no. 1
-. Paul Klee: Im Lande Edelstein. Baden-Baden:
Zschokke, Camilla Halter, Walter Ueberwasser, Rene (September 1981), pp. 166-70.
Woldemar Klein, 1952.
Thiessing, and Marguerite Frey-Surbek.
Kessler, Charles S. "Science and Mysticism in Paul
Duthuit, Georges. "A Paul Klee," Cahiers c/'Art (Paris), Klee's 'Around the Fish,'" Journal of Aesthetics and Art
20e-21e annees (1945-46), pp. 20-22. Criticism (New York), vol. 16 (September 1957),
Articles and Essays
pp. 76-83.
Franciscono, Marcel. "Paul Klee in the Bauhaus: The
Adler, Jankel. "Memories of Paul Klee," Horizon
Artist as Lawgiver," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 52, Klein, Jerome. "Line of Introversion," New Freeman
(London), vol. 6, no. 34 (October 1942), pp. 264-67. (New York), vol. 1, no. 4 (April 5, 1930), pp. 88-89.
no. 1 (September 1977), pp. 122-27.
Aichele, K. Porter. "Paul Klee's Operatic Themes and Knott, Robert. "Klee and the Mystic Center," Art Jour¬
-. "Paul Klee's Italian Journey and the Classical
Variations," The Art Bulletin (New York), vol. 68, no. 3 nal (New York), vol. 38, no. 2 (Winter 1978-79),
Tradition," Pantheon (Munich), vol. 32 (January 1974),
(September 1986), pp. 450-66. pp. 54-64. pp. 114-18.
Artlover (New York), ed. J. B. Neumann (Spring 1959). Laude, Jean. "Paul Klee," in "Primitivism"in20th Cen¬
Geelhaar, Christian. "Paul Klee," in Vom Klang der
Special issue on Klee. Texts by Klee, Hugo Ball, Clifford Bilder, pp. 422-29. Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1985. tury Art, ed. William Rubin, vol. 2, pp. 487-501. New
Odets. York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1984.
Greenberg, Clement. "On Paul Klee (1879-1940),''
Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 52, no. 1 (September Partisan Review (New York), vol. 8, no. 3 (May-June Lhote, Andre. "Klee," in La Peinture, le coeur et Tes¬
1977) . Special issue on Klee. 1941), pp. 224-29. prit,, pp. 199-202. Paris: DeNoel et Steele, 1933. Re¬
Ashton, Dore. "The Function of Unreality: Klee," and printed from La Nouvelle Revue Franqaise (Paris), vol.
Grohmann, Will. "Paul Klee, 1923-1924," Der 26 (February 1926), pp. 247-49.
"The Organic Imagination: Klee and Goethe," in A Cicerone (Leipzig), vol. 16, no. 17 (August 1924),
Reading of Modern Art, pp. 40-44 and 45-52. pp. 786-96. Limbour, Georges. "Paul Klee," Documents (Paris),
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(Leipzig), no. 22 (1930), p. 11.
no. 3 (December 1931). Special issue on Klee. Texts by College Art Journal (New York), vol. 16, no. 2 (1957),
Will Grohmann, Ludwig Grote, Christof Hertel, and -. "Un Monde nouveau," Cahiers d'Art (Paris), pp. 132-45.
Wassily Kandinsky. 20e-21e annees (1945-46), pp. 63-64.
Mizue (Tokyo), no. 586 (June 1954). Special issue on
Bloesch, Hans. "Ein moderner Grafiker Paul Klee," Die -. "L'Humour goethien de Paul Klee," XXe Klee.
Alpen (Bern), vol. 6, no. 5 (January 1912). Siede (Paris), no. 8 (January 1957), pp. 33-38.
Museum of Modern Art Bulletin (New York), vol. 17,
Boretz, Naomi. "On the Symbolism in Paul Klee's Paint¬ -. "Kandinsky et Klee retrouvent I'orient," XXe no. 4 (Summer 1950). Texts on Klee by Marcel Breuer
ing 'Urn den Fisch,' " Leonardo!Oxford, England, and Siede (Paris), no. 17 (December 1961), pp. 49-56. and Ben Shahn.
Elmsford, New York), vol. 9, no. 4 (Autumn 1976),
pp. 295-300. Harms, Ernest. "Paul Klee as I Remember Him," Art La Nouvelle Revue Franqaise (Paris), vol. 206 (February
Journal (New York), vol. 32, no. 2 (Winter 1972-73), 1970). Tests on Klee by Dora Vallier, Jean Guichard-
Bousquet, Joe. "Paul Klee," Cahiers d'Art (Paris), p. 178. Melli, and Jean Clair.
20e-21e annees (1945-46), pp. 50-51.
Hayter, Stanley W. "Paul Klee: Apostle of Empathy," Pierce, James Smith. "Pictograms, Ideograms, and Al¬
Burnett, David. "Paul Klee: The Romantic Landscape," Magazine of Art (Washington, D.C.), vol. 39, no. 4 phabets in the Work of Paul Klee," Journal of Ty¬
Art Journal (New York), vol. 36, no. 4 (Summer 1977), (April 1946), pp. 126-30. pographic Research (Cleveland), vol. 1, no. 3 (July
pp. 322-26. 1967), pp. 219-43.
Henniger, Gerd. "Paul Klee und Robert Delaunay,"
-. "Klee as Senecio: Self-Portraits 1908-1922," Quadrum (Brussels), no. 3 (1957), pp. 137-41. -. "Paul Klee and Baron Welz," Arts Magazine
Art International (Lugano, Switzerland), vol. 21, no. 6 (New York), vol. 52, no. 1 (September 1977),
(December 1977), pp. 12-18. Henry, Sara Lynn. "Form-Creating Energies: Paul Klee
pp. 128-31.
and Physics," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 52, no. 1
-. "Sense of Quality in Paul Klee," Art Interna¬ (September 1977), pp. 118-21. -. "Paul Klee and Karl Brendel," Art Interna¬
tional (Lugano, Switzerland), vol. 22, no. 6 (October tional (Lugano, Switzerland), vol. 22, no.4(April-May
1978) , pp. 10-14. Hugo, Valentine. "Le Verger de Paul Klee," Cahiers 1978), pp. 8-10.
d'Art{Paris), 20e-21e annees (1945-46), pp. 66-69.
-. "Paul Klee: From Symbolism to Symbol," in Pour I'Art (Lausanne), no. 37 (July-August 1954). Spe¬
The Turn of the Century: German Literature and Art, Jollos, Waldemar. "Paul Klee," Das Kunstblatt (Pots- cial issue on Klee. Texts by Paul and Felix Klee, Marcel
1890-1915, ed. Gerald Chappie and Hans H. Schulte, dam-Berlin), vol. 3 (August 1919), pp. 222-34. Arland, Andre Tanner, Alexander Zschokke, Rene
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Jordan, Jim M. "The Structure of Paul Klee's Art in the
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Twenties: From Cubism to Constructivism," Arts Mag¬ Prevert, Jacques. "Parfois le balayeur," Cahiers d'Art
Cahiers d'Art (Paris), 20e-21e annees (1945-46), pp. azine (New York), vol. 52, no. 1 (September 1977), pp. (Paris), 20e-21e annees (1945-46), p. 39.
9-74. Special issue on Klee. 152-57.
Read, Herbert. "Klee: Imagination and Fantasy," XXe
Char, Rene. "Secrets d'hirondelles," Cahiers d'Art Kadow, Gerhard. "Paul Klee in Dessau," College Art Siede (Paris), no. 4 (Christmas 1938), pp. 31-33.
(Paris), 20e-21e annees (1945-46), p. 27. Journal (New York), vol. 9, no. 1 (Autumn 1949), pp.
34-36. Reise-Hubert, Renee. "Writers as Art Critics: Three
Comini, Alessandra. "All Roads Lead (Reluctantly) to Views of the Paintings of Paul Klee," Contemporary
Bern: Style and Source in Paul Klee's Early 'Sour' Kagan, Andrew. "Paul Klee's Influence on American Literature (Madison, Wisconsin), no. 1 (1977), pp.
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tember 1977), pp. 105-11. (June 1975), pp. 54-59; vol. 50, no. 1 (September
1975), pp. 84-90. Ringbom, Sixten. "Paul Klee and the Inner Truth to
Courthion, Pierre. "Paul Klee," XXe Siede (Paris), no. 4 Nature," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 52, no. 1
(Christmas 1938), p. 36. -. "Paul Klee's 'Kettledrummer,' " Arts Maga¬ (September 1977), pp. 112-17.
zine (New York), vol. 51, no. 5 (January 1977), pp.
Crevel, Rene. [Statement,] Cahiers d'Art (Paris), Rosenberg, Harold. "Art as Thinking," in Artworks and
108-11.
20e-21e annees (1945-46), p. 60. Packages, pp. 41-57. New York: Horizon; London:
-. "Paul Klee's 'Ad Parnassum': The Theory and Thames and Hudson, 1969.
Damisch, Hubert. " 'Equals Infinity,'" 20th Century Practice of Eighteenth-Century Polyphony as Models
Studies (Canterbury, England), December 1976, pp. for Klee's Art," Arts/Wagaz/ne(New York), vol. 52, no. 1 Rosenthal, Deborah. "Paul Klee: The Lesson of the
56-81. (September 1977), pp. 90-104. Master," Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 52, no. 1
(September 1977), pp. 158-60.
Daubler, Theodor. "Paul Klee," Das Kunstblatt -. "Paul Klee's 'Hommage a Picasso,'" Arts Mag¬
(Weimar), vol. 2 (January 1918), pp. 21-27. azine (New York), vol. 53, no. 5 (January 1979), Rosenthal, Mark. "Paul Klee's 'Tightropewalker': An
pp. 140-41. Exercise in Balance," Arts Magazine (New York),
DeLamater, Peg. "Some Indian Sources in the Art of
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(December 1984), pp. 657-72. Magazine (New York), vol. 54, no 5 (January 1980), -. "The Myth of Flight in the Art of Paul Klee,"
pp. 154-57. Arts Magazine (New York), vol. 55, no. 1 (September
Du (Zurich), vol. 8, no. 10 (October 1948). Special issue
1980), pp. 90-94. Willats, John. "On the Depiction of Smooth Forms in a
Group of Paintings by Paul Klee," Leonardo (Oxford,
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Zervos, Christian. "Paul Klee" (exhibition at Galerie
Roskill, Mark. "Three Critical Issues in the Art of Paul Georges Bernheim et Cie.), Cahiers d'Art (Paris), 4e
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-. "Paul Klee, 1879-1940," Cahiers d'Art (Paris),
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Schiff, Gert. "Rene Crevel as a Critic of Paul Klee," Arts

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pp. 134-37.

Shapiro, Maurice L. "Klee's 'Twittering Machine,'" The

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Soupault, Philippe. [Statement,] Cahiers d'Art (Paris),

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Stern, Lisbeth. "Bildende Kunst," Sozialistische Mo-

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Sydow, E. von. "Paul Klee," Munchner Blatter fur

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pp. 141-44.

Sylvester, A. D. B. "Auguries of Experience," The Ti¬

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pp. 48-51.

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1297-1307.

Teuber, Marianne, L. "'Blue Night' by Paul Klee," in

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Thwaites, John A. "Paul Klee and the Object," Par¬

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XXe 5/ec/e (Paris), no. 4 (Christmas 1938). Special issue

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Vishny, Michele. "Paul Klee and War: A Stance of

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 Exhibition
History
Munich. Secession: Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung. Frankfurt-am-Main. Zinglers Kabinett fur Kunst-und-
June 1906. (10 etchings.) Bucherfreunde. Paul Klee, Fritz Schaefler, Th. C. Pi-
lartz. 1919. Text by Theodor Daubler. (35 works.)
Munich. Secession: Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung.
May 15-October 1908. (3 works.) Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition (with
Johannes Molzahn and Kurt Schwitters). January
Berlin. Secession: XVI. Ausstellung, zeichende Kunste.
1919.
December 1908. (6 works.)
Cologne, Kunstverein Koln. Bulletin D. November
Bern. Kunstmuseum Bern. Paul Klee. August 1910.
1919. (2 works.)
Traveled to Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich; Winterthur,
Kunsthandlung zum Hohen Haus; Basel, Kunsthalle Hanover. Kestner-Gesellschaft. Paul Klee / Lyonel
Basel, 1910-11. (56 graphic works.) Feininger. November 30, 1919-January 1, 1920. Text
by Paul Erich Kuppers.
Munich. Galerie Thannhauser. Paul Klee. June 1911.
(30 drawings.) Dusseldorf. Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee.
March 17—April 4, 1920. Text by Theodor Daubler.
Munich. Galerie Hans Goltz. Der Blaue Reiter (second
exhibition). February 1912. (17 graphic works.) Munich. Neue Kunst-Hans Goltz Galerie. Paul Klee.
May-June 1920. Special issue of Der Ararat as catalog.
Munich. Galerie Hans Goltz. Ik Kollektiv-Ausstellung.
(363 works.)
March 16—April 4,1912. Traveled to Berlin, Galerie Der
Sturm. Moderner Bund, Schweiz. April 26-May 31, Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Two-Man Exhibition (with
1912. (9 works.) Reinhard Goering). September 1920.

Munich. Galerie Thannhauser. Sema. April 1912. Trav¬ Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition. July-
eled to Dresden. August 1921.

Leipzig. Verein LIA. LIA: Leipziger Jahre Ausstellung Weimar. Staatliche Bauhaus Weimar. First Interna¬
1912. April 7-June 1912. (4 works.) tional Exhibition of the Weimar Bauhaus. August
15-September 30, 1923.
Cologne. Sonderbund Internationale Kunstaus-
stellung. May 25-September 30, 1912. (4 works.) Berlin. Kronprinzenpalais. Paul Klee. 1923.

Zurich. Kunsthaus Zurich. Moderner Bund. July 7-31, New York. Anderson Galleries. A Collection of Mod¬
1912. (8 works.) ern German Art. October 1923. Organized by William
Valentiner.
Munich. Galerie Hans Goltz. Neue Kunst: Erste
Gesamtausstellung. October 1912. (11 works.) Jena, Germany. Kunstverein Jena. January 7-Febru-
ary 7, 1924.
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Paul Klee (with Alfred Reth
and Julie Baum). February-March 1913. New York. Societe Anonyme (Heckscher Building).
Paul Klee. January 7-February 7, 1924.
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition (with Hans
Arp, Wilhelm Gimmi, Walter Helbig, Herman Huber, New York. Daniel Gallery. The Blue Four. 1925.
Oskar Luthy, and Albert Pfister). May 1913.
Munich. Galerie Hans Goltz. Paul Klee: 2. Gesamtaus¬
Munich. Galerie Hans Goltz. II. Gesamtausstellung. stellung. 1920-1925. May-June 1925.
August-September 1913. (3 paintings.)
Paris. Galerie Vavin-Raspail. 39 aquarelles de Paul
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Erster deutscher Herbst- Klee. October21-November14,1925. Introduction by
salon. September 20-December 1, 1913. (22 works.) Louis Aragon, poem by Paul Eluard.

Dresden. Galerie Ernst Arnold. Die neue Malerei {Ex- Paris. Galerie Pierre. La Peinture surrealiste. Novem¬
pressionistische Ausstellung). January 1914. (2 works.) ber 14-25, 1925. (2 works.)

Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. April 1914. Oakland, California. The Oakland Gallery. The Blue
Four. May 22-August 31, 1926.
Munich. Neue munchener Secession (inaugural ex¬
hibition). May 30-October 1, 1914. (8 works.) Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Museum. An International
Exhibition of Modern Art Assembled by the Societe
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition (with Fritz
Anonyme. November 19,1926-January 9,1927. Trav¬
Baumann, Heinrich Campendonk, Franz Marc, Con¬
eled to Anderson Galleries, New York; Albright Art
rad Felix Muller, and Oswald Herzog). June-July 1915.
Gallery, Buffalo; Toronto Art Gallery, 1927. (8 works.)
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Two-Man Exhibition (with
Dusseldorf. Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee:
Albert Bloch). March 1916.
Olgemalde und Aquarelle. April 1927.
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. XXXXIII. Ausstellung: Ex-
pressionisten / Futuristen / Kubisten. July 1916. (10 Berlin. Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee.
works.) March 18—Easter 1928. Texts by Alfred Flechtheim and 335
Rene Crevel. (56 works.)
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition. August
1916. Brussels. Galerie Le Centaure. Exposition Klee. De¬
cember 22-30, 1928. (42 works.)
Zurich. Galerie Dada. Sturm-AusstellungI. Ser/'e (inau¬
gural exhibition). March 17—April 7, 1917. 2. Serie. Paris. Galerie Georges Bernheim et Cie. Exposition
April 9-30, 1917. Paul Klee. February 1-15, 1929. Text by Rene Crevel.
(40 works.)
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. Group Exhibition (with
Gosta Adrian-Nilsson and Gabriele Munter). De¬ Dresden. Galerie Neue Kunst Fides. Paul Klee. Febru¬
cember 1917. ary-March 1929. (105 works.)
 Klee. January 12-February 25, 1937. (69 works.) Lucerne. Galerie Rosengart. Paul Klee zum
Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee. October
Berlin.
Gedachtnis. July 15-September 15, 1945. Text by
20-November 15, 1929. Munich. Haus der deutsche Kunst. Entartete Kunst Georg Schmidt.
Dusseldorf. Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee: (Degenerate Art). July-November 1937. (17 works.)
New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Prints by Paul
Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, und Graphik aus 25 Jahren.
Paris.Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler). Paul Klee. Traveled to 14 cities, 1945-47.
February 15-March 10, 1930. Klee: Oeuvres recentes. January 14-February 5,1938.
(40 works.) Denver.Denver Art Museum. A New Way to Paul Klee.
New York. The Museum of Modem Art. Paul Klee.
March 1—April 13, 1946. Text by Otto Karl Bach.
March 13—April 2, 1930. Introduction by Alfred H.
New York.Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin). Paul Klee.
Barr, Jr. (63 works.) March 23-April 23, 1938. London. National Gallery. Paul Klee (organized by The
Tate Gallery). December 1946. Traveled.
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Society for Con¬
Paris. Roland Balay et Louis Carre. Paul Klee. July 7—
temporary Art. Modern German Art. April 18-May 10, New York. Nierendorf Galleries. Paul Klee. June-July
28, 1938. (23 works.)
1930. (10 works.) 1947.
New York. Nierendorf Galleries. Paul Klee. Octo¬
Berlin. Nationalgalerie. Klee. Spring 1930. (50 draw¬ Bern. Kunstmuseum. Ausstellung der Paul Klee-
ber 24-November 1938. Text by Perry Rathbone.
ings.) Stiftung. November 22-December 31, 1947.
New York. Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin). Paul Klee.
Cambridge, Massachusetts.Harvard Society for Con¬ Paris.Musee National d'Art Moderne. Paul Klee (Klee-
November 1-26, 1938.
temporary Art. Bauhaus. December 1930-January Gesellschaft Collection). February 4-March 1, 1948.
1931 (15 works.) New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Bauhaus Text by Henri Hoppenot.
1919-1928. December 7, 1938-January 30, 1939.
Hollywood, California. Braxton Gallery. Paul Klee. Brussels. Palais des Beaux-Arts. Paul Klee (Klee-Gesell-
Traveled 1939.
May 1-15, 1930. schaft Collection). March 1948. Text by Georges Lim-
London. London Gallery. Paul Klee. March 3-16,1939. bour.
New York. New School for Social Research (Societe
Anonyme). Special Exhibition Arranged in Honor of New York. Neumann-Willard Gallery. Paul Klee. New York. Buchholz Gallery. Paul Klee. April 20-May
the Opening of the New Building of the New School. May 15-June 10, 1939. 15, 1948.
January 1-February 10, 1931. Traveled to Buffalo,
Albright Art Gallery under title International Exhibi¬ Chicago. Katharine Kuh Gallery. An Exhibition of Venice. 24th Biennale. May 29-September 30, 1948.
tion . . . Recent Development in Abstract Art. Feb¬ Paintings by Paul Klee. December 1939.
Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. Pau/K/ee (Klee-Gesell-
ruary 18-March 8, 1931. New York. Art Students League. Paul Klee. January schaft Collection). June 1948.
Hanover. Kestner-Gesellschaft. Paul Klee. March 7—
3-11,1940 (continued at Nierendorf Galleries). Text by
Clark Mills. Beverly Hills, California.Modern Institute of Art.
April 5, 1931.
Klee: 30 Years of Paintings, Drawings, and Litho¬
New York. The Museum of Modern Art. German Zurich. Kunsthaus Zurich. Klee. February 16- graphs. September 3-October 6, 1948.
Painting and Sculpture. March 13—April 26, 1931. (5 March 25, 1940. Text by W. Wartmann.
Zurich. Kunsthaus Zurich. Ausstellung Paul Klee-
works.) Cambridge, Massachusetts. Germanic Museum, Har¬ Stiftung. September 22-October 17, 1948. Text by
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of vard University. Paul Klee. February 28-March 27, W. Wartmann. (300 works.)
Honor. The Blue Four: Feininger, Jawlensky, Kan¬ 1940. (37 works.)
New York. Buchholz Gallery. Fifty Drawings by Paul
dinsky, Klee. Kandinsky, Feininger, April 8-22, 1931; New York. Buchholz and Willard Galleries. Paul Klee. Klee. October 26-November 13, 1948.
Jawlensky, Klee, April 23-May 8, 1931. October 9-November 2, 1940. Texts by James
Johnson Sweeney and by Lyonel and Julia Feininger. Basel. Kunsthalle Basel. Aus der Stiftung Paul Klee.
Dusseldorf. Kunstverein fur die Rheinlande und West¬
(100 works.) October 27-November 21, 1948.
falen. Paul Klee. June 14—July 6, 1931. Text by Will
Grohmann. Bern. Kunsthalle Bern. Gedachtnisausstellung Paul Dusseldorf.Hetjens Museum. Spate Werke von Paul
Klee. November 9-December 8, 1940. Klee. November-December 1948.
Berlin. Galerie Alfred Flechtheim. Paul Klee: Neue
Bilder und Aquarelle. November 5-December 10, London. Leicester Galleries. Paintings and Watercolors New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Paintings,
1931. by Paul Klee. 1941. Drawings, and Prints by Paul Klee from the Klee Foun¬
dation . . . with additions from American Collections.
London. The Mayor Gallery. Paul Klee. 1934. Kunsthalle Basel. Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibi¬
Basel. December 20,1949-February 14,1950. Text by James
Paris. Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler). Paul tion. February 15-March 23, 1941. Thrall Soby. Traveled to San Francisco Museum of Art;
Klee. June 12-25, 1934. Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum; Detroit In¬
New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Paul Klee.
stitute of Arts; City Art Museum of St. Louis; New
London. The Mayor Gallery. Paul Klee. 1935. June 30—July 27, 1941. Essays by Alfred H. Barr, Jr.,
York, The Museum of Modern Art; Washington, D.C.,
James Johnson Sweeney, and Julia and Lyonel
Phillips Memorial Gallery; Cincinnati Art Museum,
Bern. Kunsthalle Bern. Paul Klee. February 23- Feininger; 2d, rev. ed., 1945, edited by Margaret Mil¬
March 24, 1935. Text by Max Huggler. (273 works.) 1949- 50. (202 works.)
ler, including writings by Klee; 3d. ed, 1946. Traveled
to Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith College, Mu¬ New York. New Art Circle. Paul Klee. May 1—31,1950.
New York. Contempora Art Circle (J. B. Neumann).
seum of Art; Chicago, The Arts Club of Chicago;
Paul Klee. Paintings, March 2-16; watercolors, New York. Buchholz Gallery. Paul Klee. May 2-27,
Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum; San Fran¬
March 18-30, 1935. 1950.
cisco Museum of Art; Los Angeles, Stendahl Art Gal¬
Oakland, California. Oakland Art Gallery. Paul Klee. leries; City Art Museum of St. Louis; Wellesley, Massa¬ Basel. Kunstmuseum. Paul Klee, 1879-1940: Aus¬
October 1935. chusetts, Wellesley College, 1941. stellung aus schweizer Privatsammlungen. Summer
Kunsthalle Basel. Paul Klee. October
Basel. 27- New York. Nierendorf Galleries. Paul Klee. November 1950.
November 24, 1935. (191 works.) 1941. New York. New Art Circle. Paul Klee. December 18,
Hartford, Connecticut. Wadsworth Atheneum. Paul New York. Nierendorf Galleries. Fifth Selection of 1950- January 31, 1951.
Klee. January 21-February 11, 1936. (50 works.) Works by Paul Klee. March-June 1942. New York. Buchholz Gallery. Klee: Sixty Unknown

New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Cubism and Washington, D.C. The Phillips Memorial Gallery. Paul Drawings. January 16-February 3, 1951.
Abstract Art. March 2—April 19,1936. Text by Alfred H. Klee: A Memorial Exhibition. June 2-October 4,1942.
Palm Beach, Florida. Society of the Four Arts. Paint¬
Barr, Jr. Traveled 1936-37. (7 works.) Text by Duncan Phillips. ings by Paul Klee. March 9—April 1,1951. Text by F. C.
London. New Burlington Galleries. The International New York. Reid Mansion (Coordinating Council of Schang.
336 Surrealist Exhibition. June 11 —July 4, 1936. French Relief Societies). First Papers of Surrealism. Oc¬ Paris. Berggruen & Cie. Paul Klee: Gravures. Feb¬
tober 14-November 7, 1942. ruary 14-March 8, 1952.
New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Fantastic Art,
Dada, Surrealism. December 7, 1936-January 17, Baltimore. Museum of Art. Paul Klee. March 16- New York. New Art Circle. Paul Klee. Easter-May
1937. Organized by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Traveled 1937. April 25, 1943. 1952.
(20 works.)
New York. New Art Circle (J. B. Neumann). Paul Klee. Paris. Berggruen & Cie. Paul Klee: Aquarelles et des-

Los Angeles. Putzel Gallery. Pictures by Paul Klee. No- October 4-30, 1943. sins. 1953. Text by Will Grohmann.
vember-December 1937.
New York. Nierendorf Galleries. Works by Klee. New York. Curt Valentin Gallery. Paul Klee. Septem¬
New York. East River Gallery (Marian Willard). Paul March 8—April 8, 1945. ber 29-October 24, 1953.
Klee. 1937.
Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Art Alliance. Paul Klee: London.Institute of Contemporary Arts. Paul Klee, 50
San Francisco. San Francisco Museum of Art. Paul Paintings, Drawings, Prints. March 14—April 9, 1944. Drawings: Collection of Curt Valentin, New York. No-
vember-December 1953. November 29, 1969. Art. In Celebration of Paul Klee 1879-1940: Fifty

SAo Paulo. Museu de Arte Moderna (2d Bienal de Sao

Prints. September 25-November 4, 1979.
Paris. Musee National d'Art Moderne. Paul Klee. No¬
Paulo). Paul Klee. November 1953-February 1954. vember 25, 1969-February 16, 1970. Texts by Jean Munich. Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. Paul
Leymarie, Franchise Cachin-Nora, and Isabelle Fon¬ Klee: Das Fruhwerk 1883-1922. December 12,
Lausanne. Chateau de la Sarraz. Paul Klee. 1954.
taine. 1979-March 2,1980. Directed by Armin Zweite. Texts
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Paul Klee. March 8- by Marcel Franciscono, Jurgen Glaesemer, Charles
Bern. Kunstmuseum Bern. Paul Klee. 1970.
April 26, 1954. Werner Haxthausen, R. Suter-Raeber, O. K.
Rome. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna. Paul Klee Werckmeister, Jim M. Jordan, Christian Geelhaar, Mar¬
New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Prints by Paul
(1879-1940). April 16-May 17, 1970. Text by Werner ianne L. Teuber, M. Droste.
Klee. July 7-September 19, 1954.
Schmalenbach.
Stuttgart. Wurttembergischer Kunstverein. Paul
Paris. Berggruen & Cie. L'Univers de Klee. 1955. Klee: Ein Kind traumt sich. December 14, 1979—
Munich. Haus der Kunst. Paul Klee. October 10,
New York. Kleemann Galleries. Paul. Klee. March 5— 1970-January 3, 1971. January 22, 1980. Text by Tilman Osterwold.
31, 1955.
Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago. Paul Klee: Etchings Hanover. Kestner-Gesellschaft. Paul Klee: Sammlung

New York. Curt Valentin Gallery. Paul Klee: Sixty Un¬ and Lithographs. October 15-November 29, 1970. Felix Klee. June 27-August 17, 1980.
known Drawings. April 11-23, 1955. Darmstadt. Hessischen Landesmuseum. Paul Klee:
London. Roland Browse and Delbanco. 60 Water-

Works by Paul Klee from the

London. The Tate Gallery. colors from the Collection of Felix Klee. 1971. Gemalde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen aus dem Besitz von
Collection of Mrs. Edward Hulton. May 4-June 5, Felix Klee. October 16-November 16, 1980.
Winterthur, Switzerland. Kunstmuseum Winterthur.
1955. Traveled to York City Art Gallery; Chicago, The Caracas. Museo de Art Contemporaneo. Paul Klee.
Paul Klee und seine Malerfreunde: Die Sammlung
Arts Club of Chicago, 1955-56. 1981.
Felix Klee. February-April 1971. Traveled to Duisberg,
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Paul Klee. Octo¬ Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, May 25-August 22,
Madrid. Fundacion Juan March. Klee: Oleos, Acua-
ber 10-December 14, 1955. 1971.
relas, Dibujosy Grabados. March-May 1981.
Bern. Kunstmuseum Bern. Paul Klee. August 11- Basel. Galerie Beyeler. Paul Klee. September-
Munster. Westfalisches Landesmuseum fur Kunst und
November4,1956. Traveled to Hamburg, Kunsthalle; November 1973. Text by Reinhold Hohl.
Kulturgeschichte Munster. Die Tunisreise: Klee,
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum; Oslo, Kunstnernes Macke, Moilliet. 1982. Directed by Ernst Gerhard
Paul Klee:
Des Moines, Iowa. Des Moines Art Center.
Hus, 1956-57. Guse.
Paintings and Watercolors from the Bauhaus Years
Hamburg. Kunstverein Hamburg. Paul Klee. 1956-57. 1921-1931. September 18-October 28,1973. Text by
Milan. Galleria del Milione. Paul Klee: L'Annun-
Marianne L. Teuber.
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Third Bi-Annual Exhibi¬ ciazione del segno: Disegni e acquarelli. Febru-
Adelaide. The Art Gallery of South Australia. Paul Klee. ary-March 1982. Galleria Marescalchi, March-April
tion of Paintings and Drawings by Paul Klee. Novem¬
1974. Traveled to Sydney, The Art Gallery of New 1982. Text by Achille Bonito Oliva.
ber 11-December 14, 1957.
South Wales; Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria.
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Edith C. Blum Art
Paris. Berggruen et Cie. Klee et Kandinsky: Une Con¬ Texts by Werner Schmalenbach, Margaret Plant, et al.
Institute, Bard College. The Graphic Legacy of Paul
frontation. 1959.
Duisberg, West Germany. Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Mu¬ Klee. 1983. Texts by Christian Geelhaar, Jurgen
Dusseldorf. Staatliche Kunstsammlung des Landes seum. Paul Klee—Das graphische und plastische Glaesemer, Jim M. Jordan, and Felix Klee.
Nordrhein-Westfalen. Paul Klee (works acquired from Werk. 1974. Directed by Jurgen Glaesemer. Texts by
Hochst. Jahrhunderthalle Hochst. Paul Klee. Janu¬
the G. David Thompson Collection, Pittsburgh). 1960. Glaesemer, Mark Rosenthal, Marcel Franciscono, and
ary 9-February 6, 1983.
Christian Geelhaar.
New York. World House Galleries. Paul Klee. March 8-
New York. Marisa del Re Gallery. Klee: 1914-1940.
April 2, 1960. The Hague. Haags Gemeentemuseum. Paul Klee. Feb¬
April 1983. Text by Carmine Benincasa.
ruary 9-May 5, 1974.
Grenoble. Musee de Peinture et Sculpture. Paul Klee.
Dresden. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Kup-
June 11—July 15, 1960. Text by Felix Klee. London. Arts Council of Great Britain. Paul Klee: The
ferstichkabinett. Paul Klee. November 6, 1984-
Last Years. Traveled to Edinburgh, Scottish National January 9, 1985.
Paris. Berggruen & Cie.Klee lui-meme: 20 Oeuvres,
Gallery of Modern Art, August 16-September 16,
1907-1940. 1961. Text by Claude Roy.
1974; Bristol, City Art Gallery, October 10-November Berlin.Bauhaus-Archiv. Paul Klee als Zeichner
Tokyo. The Seibu Department Store. Paul Klee. Oc¬ 23, 1974; London, Hayward Gallery, December 1921-1933. May 5—July 7, 1985. Traveled to Munich,
tober 14-November 14, 1961. 13-January 12, 1975. Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, August 8-
November 3, 1985; Bremen, Kunsthalle, November
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Exhibition of Paintings London. Fischer Fine Art Limited. Paul Klee:
17, 1985-January 5, 1986.
and Drawings by Paul Klee. January 8-February 16, 1879-1940. 1975.
1963. Martigny, Switzerland. Fondation Pierre Giannada.
Stuttgart. Wurttembergischer Kunstverein. Paul
Klee. May 24-November 3, 1985. Text by Andre
Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. Paul Klee. Septem¬ Klee: Die Ordnung der Dinge. September 11-Novem-
Kuenzi.
ber 20-November 4, 1963. ber 2, 1975. Text by Tilman Osterwold.
Hovikodden. Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter. Kleeog Mus-
London. Arts Council of Great Britain. Drawings and Saint-Paul, France. Fondation Maeght. Paul Klee. ikken. June 23-September 15,1985. Traveled to Paris,
Watercolors from the Felix Klee Collection, Bern. Text July 9-September 30, 1977.
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Klee et la musique.
by Norbert Lynton. Traveled throughout Great Britain, October 10, 1985-January 1, 1986. Texts by Domi¬
New York. Serge Sabarsky Gallery. Paul Klee: The Late
1963-64. nique Bozo, Ole Henrik Moe, Marcel Franciscono, Karl
Years. Autumn 1977.
Loebe, Jurgen Glaesemer, Walter Salmen.
Frankfurt. Stadelsches Kunstinstitut. Paul Klee.
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. 1979. Honoring the
1963-64. Text by Max Huggler. Stuttgart. Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Vom Klang der
Centenary of Paul Klee. March 22-May 19, 1979.
Baden-Baden. Staatliche Kunsthalle. Der fruhe Klee. Bilder: Die Musik in der Kunst des 20 Jahrhunderts.
A Tribute to Paul
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. July 6-September 22, 1985.
April 18-June 21, 1964. Text by Leopold Zahn.
Klee 1879-1940. March 2—April 15,1979. Traveled to
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, April 28-May 26, London. Royal Academy of Arts. German Art in the
London. Marlborough Gallery. Paul Klee. June-July
1979. Text by David Burnett. 20th Century: Painting and Sculpture 1905-1985. Oc¬
1966.
tober 11-December 22, 1985. Traveled to Staats¬
New York. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York. The Museum of Modern Art. Paul Klee galerie Stuttgart, February 8—April 27, 1986.
Paul Klee, 1879-1940: A Retrospective Exhibition. Centennial: Prints and Transfer Drawings. January
February-April 1967. Texts by Thomas M. Messer, Felix 8—April 3, 1979. Text by Howardena Pindell. (70 Himeji, Japan. City Museum of Art. Paul Klee in Exile:
337
Klee, and Will Grohmann (see also: Paul Klee Exhibi¬ works.) 1933-1940. Text by O. K. Werckmeister. Traveled

tion at the Guggenheim Museum. A Post Scriptum, by throughout Japan, 1985-86.

Cologne. Kunsthalle Koln.Paul Klee: Das Werk der
Thomas M. Messer). Traveled to Cleveland Museum of
Jahre 1919-1933, Gemalde, Handzeichnungen, San Francisco. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Art; Columbus, Ohio, Gallery of Fine Arts; KansasCity,
Druckgraphik. April 11-June 4, 1979. Directed by Paul Klee: Figurative Graphics from the Djerassi Col¬
Missouri, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art.
Siegfried Gohr. Texts by Marcel Franciscono, Christian lection. January 23, 1986-June 4, 1987.
New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Paul Klee. February 1- Geelhaar, Eva-Maria Triska, Gohr, Placido Cherchi, Per
Venice. Museo d'Arte Moderna, Ca' Pesaro. Paul Klee
March 25, 1967. Kirkeby, Wolfgang Wittrock.
nelle collezioni private. June 21-October 5, 1986.
Basel. Kunsthalle Basel. Paul Klee 1879-1940 Rome. Palazzo Braschi. Paul Klee: The Private Life. May
Gesamtausstellung. June 3-August 13, 1967. 24-June 22, 1979. (93 photographs.)

New York. Saidenberg Gallery. Paul Klee. October 14- Stanford, California. Stanford University Museum of
 Lenders to THE
Exhib TION

Kunstmuseum Basel
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Kunstmuseum Bern
Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
The Denver Art Museum
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Sprengel Museum Hannover
The Trustees of the Tate Gallery, London
Milwaukee Art Museum
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
The Brooklyn Museum, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Centre Georges Pompidou, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Philadelphia Museum of Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Ulmer Museum, Ulm, West Germany
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute Museum of Art, Utica, New York
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal, West Germany
Kunsthaus Zurich

Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago

Ernst Beyeler, Basel
Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Helen Keeler Burke, Illinois
Carl Djerassi, Stanford, California
Isidore Ducasse Fine Arts, Inc., New York
Mr. and Mrs. James Foster, Chicago
Stephen Hahn, Inc., New York
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Kellen, New York
Michael Kellen, New York
Felix Klee, Bern
E. W. K„ Bern
Morton G. Neumann Family Collection, Chicago
Angela Rosengart, Lucerne
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg, New York
Stiftung Sammlung Bernhard Sprengel, Hanover
338
Ian Woodner, New York
Richard S. Zeisler, New York
Several anonymous lenders
 T RUSTEES OF
The Museum of
Modern Art

William S. Paley, Chairman Emeritus

Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Chairman of the Board
Mrs. Henry Ives Cobb, Vice Chairman
David Rockefeller, Vice Chairman
Donald B. Marron, President
Mrs. Frank Y Larkin, Vice President
John Parkinson III, Vice President and Treasurer

Lily Auchincloss Dorothy C. Miller**

Edward Larrabee Barnes J. Irwin Miller*
Celeste G. Bartos S. I. Newhouse, Jr.
Sid Richardson Bass Stavros S. Niarchos
H.R.H. Prinz Franz von Bayern** Richard E. Oldenburg
Gordon Bunshaft Peter G. Peterson
Shirley C. Burden Gifford Phillips
Thomas S. Carroll* Mme Jacqueline Picasso**
John B. Carter John Rewald**
Frank T. Cary David Rockefeller, Jr.
Anne Cox Chambers Richard E. Salomon
Gianluigi Gabetti Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn*
Miss Lillian Gish** Mrs. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff
Paul Gottlieb Mrs. Bertram Smith
Agnes Gund Jerry I. Speyer
Mrs. Melville Wakeman Hall Mrs. Alfred R. Stern
George Heard Hamilton* Mrs. Donald B. Straus
Barbara Jakobson Walter N. Thayer
Sidney Janis* * R. L. B. Tobin
Philip Johnson Mrs. Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
Ronald S. Lauder Monroe Wheeler*
John L. Loeb* Richard S. Zeisler
Ranald H. Macdonald*

* Trustee Emeritus
**Honorary Trustee
339
Ex Officio
Edward I. Koch, Mayor of the City of New York
Harrison J. Goldin, Comptroller of the City of New York
 Photo Credits

Photographs reproduced in this volume have been right, lower left and right; 326 middle; 327 lower
provided, in the majority of cases, by the owners or right and middle left; 329 lower left.
custodians of the works, as indicated in the captions. Ralph Kleinhempel, Hamburg: 67, fig. 2; 140 top;
The following list, keyed to page numbers, applies to 144; 226 top.
ph’otographs for which an additional acknowledg¬ © Ute Klophaus, Wuppertal: 77, fig. 23a.
ment is due. Individual works of art appearing here Bob Kolbrener, St. Louis: 229; 256; 298.
may be additionally protected by copyright in the Peter Lauri, Bern: All black-and-white illustrations of
United States of America or abroad, and may not be works in the Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee Stif-
reproduced in any form or medium without the per¬ tung; also: 142; 232; 243; 255; 267; 307 left; 323.
mission of the copyright owners. Endrik Lerch, Ascona: 300.
Marlborough Gallery: 18, fig. 12.
© Gilberte Brassa'f: 32, fig. 40 Robert E. Mates, New York: 57, fig. 25; 194; 247;
© A.C.L.-Brussels: 208 top. 269; 273.
Jorg R Anders, Berlin: 189. James Mathews,The Museum of Modern Art, New
Myles Aronowitz, New York: 238. York: 15, fig. 3; 16, fig. 6; 25, fig. 24; 76, fig. 21.
Benteli-Verlag, Bern: 72, fig. 11; 123, upper left. Allan Mitchell, New Canaan: 231; 252.
Gertrud Bingel, Munich: 155. Eric E. Mitchell, Philadelphia: 221.
Ben Blackwell: 154. O. E. Nelson, New York: 107, fig. 31.
Ken Brown: 29, fig. 34; 166 bottom; 268 top. Mali Olatunji, The Museum of Modern Art, New York:
Rudolph Burckhardt, New York: 224 right. 173; 261.
Geoffrey Clements, New York: 19, fig. 14. Paltrinieri, Breganzona: 280.
Colten, New York: 28, fig. 31. Rolf Petersen, New York: 97, fig. 14; 217; 228 left.
© Cosmopress: 136 top and bottom; 139; 303 right; Eric Pollitzer: 32, fig. 39.
also: all works from Kunstmuseum Bern and Pollitzer, Strong & Meyer: 297.
Bildarchiv Felix Klee. Quiriconi-Tropea: 148; 212 bottom.
Walter Drayer, Zurich' 38, fig. 32; 202; 203. Sandak: 217; 233.
R Richard Eells: 206 left. Sayn Wittgenstein Fine Arts, Inc.: 195.
G. R. Farley, Utica, New York: 276. John D. Schiff, New York: 19, fig. 13; 159.
Galerie Beyeler, Basel: 211. Foto-Siegel, Neu-Ulm: 136 bottom.
Georg Flartinger, Munich: 132 bottom. Photo Stebler: 181; 236.
David Heald, New York: 151; 170 top; 174 top. © S.RA.D.E.M.: 15, fig. 2.
Henzi AG, Bern: 171; 240 left and right; 242; 287; Adolph Studly, New York: 34, fig. 43; 71, fig. 8; 116
292; 305; 318. top and bottom; 117 bottom.
FHickey & Robertson, Houston: 72, fig. 11; 219. Soichi Sunami, New York: 16, fig. 7; 18, fig. 10; 20, fig.
Fenn Hinchcliffe, Sydney: 143 upper left. 15, 16; 23, fig. 20; 24, fig. 22; 27, fig. 28; 28, fig.
Hans Hinz, Allschwill-Basel: 133 top; 134; 169 bot¬ 33; 40, fig. 1; 84, fig. 1; 118 right; 119; 172.
tom; 214; 245; 254; 277; 281; 283; 313 left. Caroline Tisdall: 77, fig. 23b.
Gerhard Howald, Bern: 72, fig. 12; 78, fig. 24; 114 © V.A.G.A: 25, fig. 25.
upper right; 122; 124 bottom; 129; 162 right; 183; Malcolm Varon, New York: 239.
185; 198; 201; 209; 215; 218 bottom; 246 right; Rolf Willimann, Kriens: 20, fig. 17; 158 top; 187; 190;
251 top; 258; 268 bottom; 282; 288; 289; 295 191; 207; 208 bottom; 244; 264.
top; 301; 311; 315. Zeis: 295 bottom.
Jacqueline Hyde, Paris: 279.
Michael Katz: 308.
Bernd Kegler, Ulm, West Germany: 136 top. Works Not in Exhibition at

Kate Keller, The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Cleveland Museum of Art

168; 173; 205; 253.

Numbers refer to pages.
Gary Kitchen: 147 bottom.
Bildarchiv Felix Klee: 35, fig. 45; 52, fig. 15,16,17; 53, 123 right, 132 bottom, 133 top and bottom, 134,135,
fig. 18,19, 20; 54, fig. 21; 70, fig. 7; 72, fig. 10,13; 137, 138, 139, 158 bottom, 162 right, 169 top and
73, fig. 14; 76, fig. 20; 114 upper left; 115 upper bottom, 170 top, 175, 176 left, 177 left, 180 top, 186,
left; 121; 124 top; 126; 127; 130 top; 140 lower 197, 199, 200 right, 201, 204 top, 206 left, 208 top,
left; 146 left and right; 147 top; 149; 152; 164; 169 210, 214, 218 top, 224 left, 225, 230, 231, 236, 238,
top; 170 bottom; 168; 184; 227; 266; 285; 286; 240 right, 241, 243, 245, 247, 254, 271, 273, 277,
324 upper left and bottom; 325 upper left, middle 280, 281, 283, 287, 289. 302, 313 left, 314, 315, 322.

340
 NDEX

Numerals in italics indicate an illustration. References Bauhaus 1919-1928 (New York, 1938), 101
to works by Paul Klee are cited alphabetically under Bavarian Don Giovanni, The (Klee), 151
the title of the work; works by all other artists are cited Baziotes, William, 85, 103, 104, 105
under the individual name. Beach of St. Germain near Tunis (Klee), 136
Before the Gates of Kairouan (Original Version from
Abbott, Jere, 96 Nature) (Klee), 132
ABC for a Wall Painter (Klee), 294 Bell, Clive, 103
Absorption (pencil, 1919) (Klee), 23, 46, 53-54 Belligerent Tribe (Klee), 42, 44, 58, 131
Absorption: Portrait of an Expressionist (lithograph, Belting, Hans, 39
1919) (Klee), 23, 53-54, 72, 73, 149 Benjamin, Walter, 58
Abstraction with Reference to a Flowering Tree (Klee), Benton, Thomas Hart, 92
215 Be They Cursed! (Klee), 262
Abstract Trio (Klee), 99 Beuys, Joseph, 77-78
Actor (Klee), 184 Freedom, Democracy, Socialism, 77
Actor's Mask (Klee), 23, 205 Vacuum^Mass, 77, 78
Ad marginem (Klee), 245 Bird Wandering Off (Klee), 218
Ad Parnassum (Klee), 30, 98, 255 Bismarck, Otto von, 40
Adventure between Kurl and Kamen (Klee), 23, 206 Black Magician (Klee), 150
Aged Phoenix (Klee), 40, 40-41, 43, 47, 119 Black Mountain College, 98
Aichinger, Bobby, 328 Blake, William, 100
Albers, Anni, 98 Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), 13, 14, 16, 42, 55, 84, 96
Albers, Josef, 94, 98, 328 Blaue Reiter Almanac, 13, 14, 44
All in Twilight (Klee), 251 Bloesch, Hans, 39-40, 41, 70
Alpen, Die, 55 Blossoming (Klee), 265
Analysis of Diverse Perversities (Klee), 176 "Blue Four, The," 90-91, 96
Anchored (Klee), 257 Blue Night (Klee), 277
Ancient Sound (Klee), 214 Boats in the Flood (Klee), 275
Angel Sen/es a Small Breakfast, An (lithograph, 1920) Bottcher, Robert, 48
(Klee), 22, 161 Borges, Jorge Luis, 35
Angel Sen/es a Small Breakfast, An (pen and ink, 1915) Brancusi, Constantin, 91
(Klee), 161 Brassai', 32, 88
Angel, Still Female (Klee), 69, 75, 310 Graffiti, 32
Angel, Still Ugly (Klee), 320 Braxton Gallery, 91, 96
Anuszkiewicz, Richard 85 Breuning, Margaret, 99
Apollinaire, Guillaume, 13 Breton, Andre, 20-21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 34, 92
"Heart Crown and Mirror," 17 Brinton, Christian, 86
Arab City (Klee), 24, 165 Brooks, James, 92
Arab Song (Klee), 260 Broom, 87
Aragon, Louis, 20, 24, 27, 92, 93 Brush, Plate, Cups, Bowls (First Version) (Klee), 263
Ararat, Der, 66, 67 Bulletin D (Cologne, 1919), 19, 86
Arches of the Bridge Break Ranks (Klee). See Viaducts Busa, Peter, 104
Break Ranks
Architecture (Klee), 189
Arendt, Hannah, 83 Cabaret Voltaire, 14
Cahiers d'Art, 5, 28
Arensberg, Louise, 91, 99
Cahiers d'Art (periodical), 30, 57, 89, 93, 98, 106
Arensberg, Walter, 86, 91, 99
Armory Show (New York, 1913), 83, 91, 93 Campendonk, Heinrich, 92
Around the Fish (Klee), 26-27, 101, 217 Candide, Chapter 5: "Quelle peut-etre la raison suffi-
Arp, Jean (Hans), 15, 19, 20, 21, 59, 98, 101 sante de ce phenomene?" (Klee), 128
Enak's Tears (Terrestrial Forms), 15 Candide, Chapter 9: "II le perce d'outre en outre"
Arrow in the Garden (Klee), 235 (Klee), 128
Artaud, Antonin, 21, 22 Candide, Chapter 13: "Et ordonna au capitaine Can¬
Art Front, 100 dide d'allerfaire la revue desa compagnie"(Klee),
Artist Pondering (Klee), 147 128
Artists' Union, 98, 100 Capriccio in February (Klee), 291
As I Rode on the Ass (Klee), 304 caricatures in notebook (Klee), 74, 76
Assyrian Game (Klee), 183 Caricature of a Young Woman, in Simple Contour
Astral Automatons (Klee), 143 (Klee), 78
Astrological Fantasy Portrait (Klee), 200 Carnival in the Mountains (Klee), 201
At the Hunter Tree (Klee), 302 Carpet, The (Klee), 312
Avery, Milton, 105 Carpet of Memory (Klee), 16
Castle Garden (Klee), 253
Castle of the Faithful (Klee), 21, 207
Baargeld, Johannes, 19, 86 Castle to Be Built in the Woods (Klee), 222
Ball, Hugo, 14, 15, 16, 23 Cat and Bird (Klee), 233
Balzac, Honore de, Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu, 27, 28 Catharsis (Klee), 270
Baroque Portrait (Klee), 154 Cezanne, Paul, 13, 19, 91, 94
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 94-95, 97, 100, 108 "C" for Schwitters (Klee), 18
Bataille, Georges, 28 Chagall, Marc, 19, 92
Baudelaire, Charles, 26 I and the Village, 16
Bauer, Rudolf, 93 Revolution, 57
Bauhaus, 20, 26, 47, 51-52, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 94, Cheney, Sheldon, 92
96, 98 Child on the Stairway (Klee), 185
invitations to Bauhaus festival (Klee), 326 Children as Actors (Klee), 43, 43-44, 52
 Child's Drawing, Representing Five Sisters (Klee), 774 Eichendorff, Joseph von, 69 Goldwater, Robert, 104
Chirico, Giorgio de, 19, 21, 92 Eidola: Erstwhile Flarpist (Klee), 306 Goltz, Hans, 19
Mystery and Melancholy of a Street, The, 23 Eldola: Erstwhile Musician (Klee), 306 Gorky, Arshile, 92, 96, 98, 100
Seer, The, 19, 20 Eidola: Erstwhile Pianist (Klee), 306 Gottlieb, Adolph, 85, 92, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 105,
Clark, T. J., The Absolute Bourgeois, 39 Eidola: KNAYFIPOE, Erstwhile Kettledrummer (Klee), 107
Classical Coast (Klee), 252 306 Figurations of Clangor, 107
Classic-Dynamic Scherzo "217" (Klee), 180 Einstein, Carl, 95 Goya, 33, 74
Clock on the Sideboard by Candlelight (Klee), 722 Eliot, T. S„ 95 Graham, John, 96
Clock with Roman Numerals (Klee), 774 Eluard, Paul, 22, 24, 28, 92, 93 Gray One and the Coast (Klee), 285
Clouds over BOR (Klee), 227 "Paul Klee," 24, 25 Great Kaiser, Armed for Battle, The (Klee), 764
Clown (Klee), 229 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 100 Greenberg, Clement, 89, 92, 102
Cocteau, Jean, 103 Emigrating (Klee), 262 Green, Violet against Orange (Klee), 168
Collection of Signs, Southern (Klee), 100 Entartete Kunst. See Degenerate Art Grohmann, Will, 28, 49, 50, 54, 55, 65, 95, 96, 98,
Colorful Life Outside (Klee), 257 Ernst, Max, 19, 20, 21, 25-26, 27, 30, 33, 57, 86,105 106, 329
Colorful Meal (Klee), 231 Angel of the Flome, The, 57 Gropius, Walter, 26, 47, 94, 101, 327
Color Table (on Major Gray) (Klee), 240 Entire City, The, 31, 32 Grosz, George, 45, 58, 87, 92, 101, 327
Comedian (Klee), 77, 777 Fiat modes: pereat ars, 19, 20 Growth Is Stirring (Klee), 31, 286
Comedy (Klee), 166 Histoire Naturelle: The Fugitive, 26 Guggenheim, Peggy, 105
Commotion in the Studio (Klee), 259 Maximiliana, 28, 29 Guggenheim, Solomon R., 93
Composition with Windows (Composition with a Bj Eros (Klee), 25, 797
(Klee), 17, 153 Erster deutscher Herbstsalon (Berlin, 1913), 44
Conjuring Trick (Klee), 26, 228 Everything Comes Running After! (Klee), 74, 75, 322 Haller, Hermann, 79, 325
Constructed in Color with Black Graphic Elements Exercises at the Cross (Klee), 52, 52-53 Harbor with Sailboats (Klee), 279
(Klee), 747 Eye of Eros, The (Klee), 89, 90, 148 Harmony of Rectangles in Red, Yellow, Blue, White,
Contemporary Problems in Swiss Painting and Sculp¬ and Black (Klee), 192
ture (Zurich, 1936), 59 Hartung, Hans, 94
Corbusier Le (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret), 59 Family Outing/Tempo II (Klee), 248 Hausenstein, Wilhelm, 24, 48, 78, 80, 88, 89
Corrinth, Curt, Potsdamer Platz, 45 Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism (New York, 1936), Hayter, Stanley William, 99, 102-03
Cosmic Flora (Klee), 197 100-101 Head Made from a Piece o f Tile Polished by the Lech,
Cosmic Revolutionary (Klee), 45 Fatal Bassoon Solo (Klee), 143 Larger, Bust More Elaborate (Klee), 75
"Creative Credo," 23 Feininger, Lyonel, 90, 91, 94, 101 Heartfield, John, 19
Crevel, Rene, 20, 28, 93 Feitelson, Lorser, 99 Heckel, Erich, 92
Crystal Gradation (Klee), 169 Female and Animal (Klee), 777 Heidegger, Martin, 85
Cubism and Abstract Art {New York, 1936), 100 Ferren, John, 85, 108 Heine, Heinrich, 70
Cunning Enticement (Klee), 130 Fire at Evening (Klee), 74, 76, 239 Heine, Thomas Theodor, African Danger, 42, 58
Cupboard, The (Klee), 312 Fire Source (Klee), 288 Helpless Ones, The (Klee), 268
First Great German Art Exhibition (Munich, 1937), 54 Here and Beyond (Captured) (Klee), 316
First Papers of Surrealism (New York, 1942), 105 Heroic Roses (Klee), 104
Dada Anthologie (1919), 19 Fish Magic (Klee), 276 Heroic Strokes of the Bow (Klee), 284
Dali, Salvador, 30, 99 Flat Landscape (Klee), 105, 706 Hero with the Wing (etching) (Klee), 77, 72,73,84, 118
Danceplay of the Red Skirts (Klee), 203 Flechtheim, Alfred, 48, 49, 94, 327 Hero with the Wing (pencil) (Klee), 778
Dancing from Fear (Klee), 296 Fleeing Policeman, The (Klee), 131 Herzfelde, Wieland, 55
Dancing Fruit (Klee), 304 Fleeing UR-OX (Klee), 309 High Guardian (Klee), 320
Daumier, Honore, 74 Flight from Oneself (First State) (Klee), 250 Highroad and Byroads (Klee), 237
Death and Fire (Klee), 323 Flora on the Rocks (Klee), 318 Hitler, Adolf, 48, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57
Degenerate Art {Munich, 1937), 54-55, 57-58, 328 Florentine Villa District (Klee), 220 Hoffmann, E. T. A., 79, 80
exhibition brochure, 55 Flowers in Stone (Klee), 299 Hoffmannesque Scene (Klee), 79, 80
Delaunay, Robert, 14, 26 Fohn Wind: In Franz Marc's Garden (Klee), 139 Hofmann, Hans, 85, 89, 105
Windows, 16 Fox, Milton S., 97 Hogarth, William, 74
Demonry (Klee), 204 Franco, Francisco, 56 Hold Out! (Klee), 309
Derain, Andre, 94 Friedrich, Caspar David, Wanderer over a Sea of Fog, Holtzman, Harry, 98
Desnos, Robert, 23 67, 67-68, 69, 80 Homme approximatif, L' (Klee), 28, 29
Destroyed Labyrinth (Klee), 305 Froebenius, Leo, 30 House by the Brook (Klee), 83
Deutsch, Leo, 40 Frost, Rosamond, 104 House Revolution (Klee), 52, 57
Dialogue about the Concept X(Klee), 52, 53 Fruit, The (Klee), 704 Human Impotence, 74, 76
Diana (Klee), 256 Fugue in Red (Klee), 769 Human Script (Klee), 27, 206
Diaries (Klee), 13, 26, 34, 40, 44, 47, 52, 65, 71, 76 Furniture Caricature (Klee), 725
Diller, Burgoyne, 98
Documents, 28-29
Imponderable (Klee), 49, 50
Double (Klee), 314 Galerie Dada, 14, 15
Indian (Klee), 280
Double Murder (Klee), 262 Galerie Pierre, 24, 92
Individualized Measurement of Strata (Klee), 240
Double Tent (Klee), 790 Galerie Vavin-Raspail, 24, 92
Ingres, Jean A.D., 85
Doucet, Jacques, 93 Gallatin, A. E„ 86, 94, 107
Injured (Klee), 706, 304
Draftsman, The (Klee), 196 Garden for Orpheus, A (Klee), 224
In Memory o f an All-Girl Band (Klee), 204
Draftsman at the Window (Klee), 726 Garden in St. Germain, European Quarter of Tunis
Inscription (Klee), 746
Drawing for "Room Perspective with Inhabitants" (Klee), 137
Insula Dulcamara (Klee), 289
(Klee), 762 Garden in the Orient (Klee), 30, 272
Intention (Klee), 73, 74, 287
Dreier, Katherine, 85-86, 90, 91, 93-94, 96-97, 98, Garden Vision (Klee), 277
Interior (Sideboard) (Klee), 725
100, 107 Gauguin, Paul, 91, 94
International Exhibition of Modern Art (Brooklyn,
Drewes, Werner, 98 Genauer, Emily, 105
1926-27), 91-92
Dubuffet, Jean, 85 Genesis of the Stars (I Moses 1.14) (Klee), 132
In the Current Six Thresholds (Klee), 238
Duchamp, Marcel, 85, 86, 91, 99, 107, 108 Ghost of a GeniusiKlee), 163
Intoxication (Klee), 308
342 Dust Breeding, 21 Giacometti, Alberto, 14
Irma Rossa, the Animal Tamer (Klee), 143
Durer, Albrecht, 52 Hands Holding the Void, 30
Duffus, R. L., 96 Gigantic Plants (Klee), 301
Dune Flora (Klee), 794 Girl with Jugs (Klee), 727
Dune Landscape (Klee), 219 Glaesemer, Jurgen, 34, 100 Janco, Marcel, 14
Dutilleul, Roger, 93 Glance in a Bedroom (Klee), 123 Mask, 15
Glass Facade (Klee), 315 Janis, Sidney, 105, 106
God of the Northern Woods (Klee), 777 Jawlensky, Alexey, 90, 91
Earth Witches (Klee), 290 Goebbels, Joseph, 52 Jean Paul, 69, 73, 79
Eddy, Arthur Jerome, 83, 84, 85, 87, 92, 100 Goring, Hermann, 54 Jena, lecture, 30, 65, 76, 95
Egbert, Donald Drew, 39 Goethe, J. W, von, 80, 100 Jofan, B., Soviet Pavilion (Paris, 1937), 58
Egypt Destroyed (Klee), 27, 208 van Gogh, Vincent, 13, 91, 94 Johns, Jasper, 107
Johnson, Philip, 98 Furious Suns, 24, 25 O! These Rumors' (Klee), 317
Jollos, Waldemar, 14, 15 Matisse, Henri, 13, 30, 44, 91, 94, 98, 103, 107 Outbreak of Fear (Klee), 34, 307
Composition, Black and Red, 31 Outbreak of Fear III (Klee), 34, 69, 307
Matta, 103-04 Outerbridge, Paul, 98
Kaesbach, Walter, 51 Eronisme, 102 Ovid, 47
Kahnweiler, Daniel-Henry, 49, 55, 101 Meisel, F., 329
Kairouan (Farewell) (Klee), 136 Menu without Appetite (Klee), 29, 30, 268
Kallai, Ernst, The Bauhaus Buddha: Caricature of Paul Menzel, Adolph von, Prussian Grenadiers March with
Paalen, Wolfgang, 94
Klee, 72, 73 Weapons in Arms, 42, 43, 58
Palace, Partly Destroyed (Klee), 223
Kamrowski, Jerome, 104 Mephisto as Pallas (Klee), 303
Pastorale (Klee), 27
Kandinsky, Nina, 98, 327 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 84
Pechstein, Max, 92
Kandinsky, Wassily, 13, 14, 16, 44, 55, 83, 84, 85, Metaphysical Transplant (Klee), 18, 79, 759
Pedagogical Sketchbook (Klee), 106
86-87, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96, 98, 101, 327 Meyer, Hannes, 47
cover design for (Moholy-Nagy), 26
Kaufmann, Edgar, Jr., 105 Michaux, Henri, 24, 89
Peret, Benjamin, 21
Keppel, Frederick R, 96 Alphabet, 27
Perspective with Open Door (Klee), 20, 787
Kettledrummer (Klee), 85, 106 Michelangelo, 104
Pfemfert, Franz, 55
Key, The (Broken Key) (Klee), 293 Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 47, 96
Phillips, Duncan, 101
Kiesler, Frederick, 105 Minotaure, 30
Picabia, Francis, Amorous Display, 19
Kirstein, Lincoln, 96 Miro, Joan, 21, 24, 30, 57, 83, 87-90, 92, 99, 101,
Picasso, Olga, 103
Klee, Felix, 72, 327, 328 102, 103, 107
Picasso, Pablo, 21, 26, 27, 30, 31, 56, 57, 83, 91, 92,
Klee, Hans, 70, 324, 325, 329 Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of
98, 103, 106, 107, 108
Klee, Ida, 70, 324 Lovers, The, 28, 29
Artist's Salon, rue la Boetie, The, 102, 103
Klee, Lily (nee Stumpf), 34, 39, 40, 47, 48, 50, 55, 78, Birth of the World, The, 25
Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu, Le (Balzac), illustration for,
90, 91, 93, 98,100,101,325, 326, 327, 328, 329 Plead of a Man, 34, 34-35
27, 28
Klee, Mathilde, 70, 324 Painting on Masonite, 32
Guernica, 33, 56, 59
Klee, Paul (photographs), 72, 324, 325, 326, 327, Renversement, Le, 24, 25
On the Beach, 29, 30
328, 329 "Sourire de ma blonde," 89, 90
Seated Woman, 97
Kleist, Heinrich von, 69 Tilled Field, The, 88, 88-89
Pictorial Form Instruction (Klee), 57-58
Kline, Franz, 85, 106, 107 Model 106 (Expanded) (Klee), 249
Picture Album (Klee), 30, 704, 277
Kooning, Willem de, 85, 98, 104 Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo, 26
Pisch, the Tormented (Klee), 758
Kubin, Alfred, 46, 47, 51 Pedagogical Sketchbook cover design, 26
Planting according to Rules (Klee), 267
Kugler, Friedrich, 42, 43 Moilliet, Louis, 16, 324, 325
Pollock, Jackson, 85, 92, 102, 103, 104, 105
Kunstblatt, Das, 93 Moll, Oskar, 97
Polyphonically Enclosed White (Klee), 242
Mondrian, Piet, 84, 91, 92, 102, 106, 107, 108
Polyphony (Klee), 254
Monument in Fertile Country (Klee), 236
Pomona, Overripe (Slightly Inclined) (Klee), 292
Lady with Parasol (Klee), 774 Moore, Henry, 57
Portrait of an Acrobat (Klee), 26, 228
Landscape and Yellow Church Tower (Klee), 757 Moribundus (Klee), 758
Portrait of an Expressionist (Klee), 777
Landscape near Blades (Klee), 276 Motherwell, Robert, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108
Portrait of a Pregnant Woman (Klee), 720
Landscape with Dove (Klee), 88 Motif from Hamamet (Klee), 134
Portrait of Lily (Klee), 78
Landscape with Two Who Are Lost (Klee), 287 Mountain Village (Autumnal) (Klee), 264
Possessed Girl (Klee), 200
Landscape with Yellow Birds (Klee), 782 Moving Furniture (Klee), 246
Potsdamer Platz, drawing for (Klee), 45
Legend of the Nile (Klee), 30, 278 Muche, Georg, 327
Pousette-Dart, Richard, 105
Lehmbruck, Wilhelm, 94 Muddle Fish (Klee), 316
Prehistoric Rock Pictures (New York, 1937), 30
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm von, 100 Muhsam, Erich, 41
Promenade (Klee), 296
Lenin, V.I., 58 Munter, Gabriele, Man in an Armchair, 325
Protected Children (Klee), 298
Leonardo, 52, 85 Muhlestein, Hans, 30
Protzen, Carl Theodor, Bridge in the Holledau, 57
Lessing, Gotthold, 17, 85 Mural from the Temple of Longing \Over There/
Purrmann, Hans, 92
Lessing, Theodore, 22 (Klee). See Mural from the Temple of Longing
Putzel, Howard, 99, 105
Letter Picture (Klee), 209 \ Thither/1
LeWitt, Sol, 107 Mural from the Temple of Longing \ ThitherS (Klee),
Lingner, Max, May 7, 1935, 58 67, 68-69, 72, 775
Museum of Modern Art, The, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99,101, Quarry at Ostermundigen (Klee), 747
Lipchitz, Jacques, 57
Prometheus, 57 102, 106, 107, 108
Litterature, 20, 24 Museum der Gegenwart, 97
Locksmith (Klee), 313 Musical Tea Party (Klee), 120 Ragged Ghost (Klee), 98
Lotmar, Fritz, 40 Ralfs, Otto, 68, 69
Lotmar, Philipp, 40 Raterrepublik, 39, 45, 84
Lowe, Jeannette, 101-02 National Art Exhibition (Bern, 1936), 59 Rauschenberg, Robert, 98
Luce, Henry, 96 Nature, 21 Rebay, Baroness Hilla von, 93, 96, 107
Luna of the Barbarians (Klee), 303 Naval Station (Klee), 740 Red Vest (Klee), 707
Lurqat, Jean, 93 Naville, Pierre, 21, 22-23 Rehearsal with Props (Klee), 103
Neumann, J. B„ 86, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101 Reinhardt, Ad, 100, 108
New Harmony (Klee), 269 Renoir, Pierre-Auguste, 91
McBride, Henry, 86, 91, 95 Newman, Barnett, 85, 92, 104 Reparatur (Klee), 34, 35
Macke, August, 13, 14, 16, 26, 324 Blessing, The, 105 Revolution (journal), 41
Madhouse (Klee), 140 Nierendorf, Karl, 101, 104, 105, 107 Revolution of the Viaduct (Klee), 52, 56, 57-58, 74,
Magic Garden, The (Klee), 105, 106 Night Feast (Klee), 770 75
Magic Theater (Klee), 198 Noland, Kenneth, 98, 105, 107, 108 Revolution Surrealiste, La, 21, 22, 23, 28
Maid of Saxony (Klee), 97 Red Space x Vibrations = Combustion, 107 Rhythmical (Klee), 247
Maillol, Aristide, 94 North Sea Picture (from Baltrum) (watercolor and Rich Harbor (Klee), 283
Male and Female Plant (Klee), 105 brush drawing over pencil on paper) (Klee), 193 Richter, Hans, 14, 45
Malevich, Kasimir, 55 North Sea Picture (from Baltrum) (watercolor on pa¬ Rimbaud, Arthur, 30
Mandach, Conrad von, 59 per) (Klee), 193 Rivera, Diego, 96 343
Man Ray, 107 Notorious Masculine Woman, A (Klee), 775 Roche, Henri-Pierre, 86
Dust Breeding, 21 Novalis (Baron Friedrich von Hardenberg), 69, 73 Rocky Landscape (with Palms and Fir Trees) (Klee), 752
Marc, Franz, 13, 14, 44, 96 Romantic Park (Klee), 244
Marcuse, Ludwig, 78 Room Perspective with Inhabitants (Klee), 20, 702,
Marin, John, 92 Offenbach, Jacques, 79, 80 103, 762
Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso, 55 On a Motif from Hamamet (Klee), 125 Roosevelt, Theodore, 83
Mask of Fear(Klee), 101, 261 Once Emerged from the Gray of Night. . . (Klee), 77, Rose, Stanley, 99
Mask with the Little Flag, The (Klee), 212 745 Rosenberg, Alfred, 51, 52
Masson, Andre, 21, 24, 57, 87-88, 89, 99, 102, 103, One Girl, Two Schnapps (Klee), 295 Rosenberg, Harold, 85
104 Open Book (Klee), 247 Rosenberg, Paul, 98-99
Fish Drawn on the Sand, 25 Oriental Garden (Klee), 270 Rose Wind (Klee), 7 70
 Still Life with Fragments (Klee), 213 Way Out Discovered, The (Klee), 266
Rothko, Mark, 31, 92, 98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 105
"Ways of Nature Study" (Klee), 15, 72
untitled watercolor of 1944, 99 Strange Garden (Klee), 199
illustration for (Klee), 73
Rouge et le noir, Le (Klee), 295 Stricken Place (Klee), 179
Striding Figure (Klee), 18 Weber, Max, 94, 95
Rousseau, Henri, 91
Wedderkop, Hans von, 326
Roy, Pierre, 21 Strindberg, August, 40 -
Struck from the List (Klee), 53 Weininger, Otto, 40
Rubin, William, 28
Well-Tended Woodland Path, Waldegg near Bern
Runge, Philipp Otto, 67 Study for "Comedy" (Klee), 166
Stumpf, Lily. See Klee, Lily (Klee), 724
Rusting Ships (Klee), 282
Sturm, Der, 18, 19, 21 Werckmeister, 0. K., 65
Sturm, Der (periodical), 42, 44 Werner, Bruno E., 51
Sturm-Ausstellung (Zurich, 1917), exhibition an¬ Wiegand, Charmion von, 101
Sacred Islands (Klee), 104, 224
nouncement, 74 Wild Man, The {Klee), 776
St. Germain near Tunis (Inland) (Klee), 138
Suicide on the Bridge (Klee), 87 Willard, Marian, 101, 102, 104
Saint of the Inner Light, The (Klee), 54, 55
Swamp Legend (Klee), 54 Window, The (Klee), 188
Saint-Pol-Roux, 21
Sweeney, James Johnson, 101 Window Display for Lingerie (Klee), 777
Salmony, Alfred, 100
Sydow, Eckart von, 45 With the Egg (Klee), 744
Salon Tunisien (Klee), 195
Satie, Erik, 103 Sylvester, A. D. B., 104 Wolfli, Adolf, 80
Work of Art, The (Klee), 52
Schaefler, Fritz, 39, 45
World's Fair (Paris, 1937), 56, 57, 58
Schardt, Alois, 52
Schelling, Friedrich, 73 Wright, Frank Lloyd, 91
Tale a la Hoffmann (Klee), 167 Wright, Willard Huntington, 85
Scheyer, Emmy "Galka," 90—91, 93, 96, 99-100, 326
Tanguy, Yves, 57, 99
Schlegel, August Wilhelm von, 73
Target Recognized (Klee), 54
Scholz, Robert, 49
Taeuber-Arp, Sophie, 15 Young Man with Pointed Beard, Resting His Head in
Schwitters, Kurt, 17-18, 33, 94
"Ten, The," 98-99 His Hand (Klee), 72, 727
Merz 22, 18
They're Biting (Klee), 160 Young Man Resting (Klee), 72, 729
Sea Adventurer (Klee), 218
Tieck, Ludwig, 69, 73 Youthful Self-Portrait (Klee), 130
Sea Landscape with Heavenly Body (Klee), 156
Tightrope Walker, The (Klee), 181
Seesaw (Klee), 133
Timid Brute, The (Klee), 297
Sees It Coming (Klee), 53, 54
Tobey, Mark, 104 Zahn, Leopold, 22, 59
Segonzac, Andre Dunoyer de, 94
Tomlin, Bradley Walker, 107 Zervos, Christian, 28, 30, 55-56, 58, 93
Seitz, William, 85, 100
Tree Nursery (Klee), 27, 234 Zoo (Klee), 88
Self-Portrait (reverse of Astern am Fenster, 1908), 53
Tropical Gardening (Klee), 774 Zschokke, Alexander, 50—51
Self-Portrait: Drawing for a Woodcut (Klee), 124
Trussel, Fritz, 59
Self-Portrait, Full Face, Head Resting in the Hand
Tschaung-Tse, 22
(Klee), 72, 123
Turkel-Deri, Flora, 95
Self-Portrait with the White Cap, after Nature (Klee),
Twittering Machine (Klee), frontispiece, 25, 97, 102,
115
772
Separation in the Evening (Klee), 178
Twombly, Cy, 107
Seuphor, Michel, 108
Two Men Meet, Each Believing the Other to Be of
Seurat, Georges-Pierre, 30, 94
Higher Rank (Klee), 116
17, Astray! Klee), 22, 22-23, 24, 180
Tzara, Tristan, 19, 20, 26, 28, 93
Shame (Klee), 263
Shapiro, Theda, 41
She Bellows, We Play (Klee), 232
Shield-UR-OX (Klee), 309 Uccello, Paolo, 21
Ships in the Lock (Klee), 226 Uncomposed in Space (Klee), 246
Signs Intensifying Themselves (Klee), 259 Underwater Garden (Klee), 300
Signs in Yellow (Klee), 274 Untitled (Composition with Fruit) (Klee), 319
Simplicissimus, 42, 74 Untitled (Family Outing) (Klee), 774
Smith, David, 102 Untitled (Still Life) (Klee), 321
Snake Goddess and Her Foe, The (Klee), 304 Untitled (watercolor and pen on paper, 1914) (Klee),
Soby, James Thrall, 106 133
Societe Anonyme, 85-86 Uplift and Way (Sail Flight) (Klee), 258
Solman, Joseph, 98-99 Ur-Clock-Plants (Klee), 208
"So May It Secretly Begin" (Klee), 294 UR-OX, Half from Behind (Klee), 309
Sonderegger, Ernst, Well now—are you drawing
much from nature?, 78
So to Speak (Klee), 50 Valentin, Curt (Buchholz Gallery), 98, 101, 104, 107
Soupault, Philippe, 28, 93 Valentiner, William, 86, 93, 94, 96
Souvenir (Klee), 89 Variations (Klee), 26, 94, 95, 225
Souvenir (of Gersthofen) (Klee), 146 Vegetal-Strange (Klee), 243
Speer, Albert, Nuremburg Stadium, 57 Ventriloquist: Caller in the Moor {Klee), 30, 186
Stage Site (Klee), 226 Vertical and Horizontal Planes in the Studio (Klee), 249
Stalin, J., 58 Viaducts Break Ranks (Klee), 57, 273
Stamos, Theodoras, 104 View from a Window (Klee), 755
Steamboat (Klee), 202 View of the Severely Threatened City of Pinz (Klee),
Steamboat Passes the Botanical Garden, The (Klee), 140
174 Vigilant Angel (Klee), 311
Steerable Grandfather (Klee), 248 Village as a Play in Relief, A (Klee), 272
Steinberg, Leo, 100 Village Carnival (Klee), 91, 227
Steinberg, Saul, 85 Vinnen, Carl, A Protest of German Artists, 41, 44
Steinlen, Theophile-Alexandre Virgin in a Tree (Klee), 116
344 The First of May, 42, 43 Vitrac, Roger, 28, 93
Louise Michel on the Barricades, 41 Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber (Klee), 24, 101,
May 1871, 40-41, 41 173
title page, sheet music of L‘Internationale, 42, 43, Voltaire, Candide, 14
58
Sternberg, Josef von, 91
Stevens, Wallace, 100 Walden, Herwarth, 14, 44, 86
Stieglitz, Alfred, 85, 100 Wandering Artist: A Poster (Klee), 35, 313
Stiff Already! (Klee), 53 Warning of the Ships (Klee), 742
Still, Clyfford, 85, 105 Watercolors I and II (Klee), 89
Still Life (Jars, Fruit, taster Egg, and Curtains) (Klee), Watson, Forbes, 93
230 Way from Unklaich to China, The (Klee), 156
■
 344 pages, 283 plates'(137 in color), 163 reference illustrations

Paul Klee
Edited by Carolyn Lanchner.
Essays by Jurgen Glaesemer, Carolyn Lanchner,
Ann Temkin, and 0. K. Werckmeister

The work of Paul Klee provides a virtual index of twen¬

tieth-century art. Born in 1879, he was the only painter
of his generation who allowed his art to range freely
between the figurative and the nonfigurative, the
openly organic and the tightly geometric, the wholly
linear and the wholly chromatic. But the rich legacy of
Klee's oeuvre has tended to be overshadowed by the
most readily grasped aspects of its appeal: its lyricism,
whimsicality, and wit. For Klee, early-modernist belief
in the independent expressive power of the means of
painting held no restrictive implications; rather, it was
both license and mandate to explore fully the entire
realm of pictorial dynamics. His work comprehends the
stylistic polarities of modernism and mediates between
them, from the extravagant fantasy of Surrealism to
the austere constructs of Neoplasticism.
Klee's remarkable art was first annexed by the
Dadaists in the second decade of the century and later
appropriated and looked to as sanction and example
by the Surrealists. In the twenties his work provided
Miro and Masson with a model for the practice of
automatism and a concept of indeterminate pictorial
space they could use to open up their own pictures. At
the same time, Klee, Bauhaus Professor and unequaled
theoretician of twentieth-century art, was making the
first of his abstract "magic-square" pictures, which
were followed in the late twenties by his Constructivist,
striped, Egyptian landscapes. In the early thirties, this
artist, who had a near-magical command of line, pro¬
duced a magisterial series of pictures constructed
solely with glazed dots of color. In the last years of his
life, from 1937 up to his death in 1940, Klee syn¬
thesized career-long thematic and stylistic concerns in
a prodigious outpouring of strongly gestural work.
These extraordinary pictures, with their disjunctive
compositions and radical use of line as independent
Portrait of an Expressionist pictorial element, are direct forerunners of American
1922 Abstract Expressionism and European Informel.
Private collection, Washington, D.C.
This book, published to accompany a major retro¬
spective at The Museum of Modern Art, brings to¬
gether a rich variety of work from all of Klee's diverse
styles. Drawing on recent scholarship and presenting
Front cover: much heretofore unpublished documentation, the
Ad Parnassum book's four essays focus on areas that have not pre¬
1932 viously been explored in the Klee literature. Although
Kunstmuseum Bern
written from contrasting points of view and mixed
Society of Friends of the Kunstmuseum Bern
ideological bases, they are linked by a common effort
to locate Klee's work in the cultural and historical cli¬
The Museum of Modern Art mate of his time. Together they constitute an open-
11 West 53 Street ended, discursive inquiry into the nature of Klee as
New York, New York 10019
artist, as human being, and as powerful presence in
Printed in Italy twentieth-century art.

ISBN 0-67070-M04- 4