Paul Klee-Carolyn Bell

         Paul Klee, a printmaker and painter from Switzerland, was one of the many inspiring and renowned artists of the 20th century.  Klee was raised by a musician, which later was reflected in the melodic and rhythmic compositions of his painting and art.  Upon deciding to pursue art, he spent time at the Munich Academy studying both figure and landscape drawing.  After marrying a pianist, Klee worked in isolation for 5 years developing his skill and style.  With interest in Van Gogh, Klee began experimenting with the use of light and dark.  During this time he visited many impressionism exhibits in Munich.  

        Klee soon discovered a muse in Robert Delauney, who used a combination of color and abstract space.  This interest prompted a development of Klee's style, which came to include a balance between tonality and the dynamics of color.  This style, with his developed sense of using dark space as well as tonality of color can be seen in a painting he made during his time as a teacher at the Bauhaus. He painted the piece below by building up squares of color on a black background.

Static-Dynamic Gradation. 1923. Oil and gouache on paper

       As an instructor at the Staatliches Bauhaus, a Swedish art house, Klee both studied and produced the skills he taught.  The Static-Dynamic Gradation is a piece that came from his teaching of a color theory course.  During this time he also created the oil transfer drawing.  In this process he would trace drawings over top of a sheet of black oil to bleed through to a bottom sheet.  The result can be seen below in a print that shows a whimsy representation of the Bauhaus art school life.

Tale à la Hoffmann, 1921. Watercolor, pencil and transferred ink on printing paper

       
       Klee later left the Bauhaus to teach at the Düsseldorf art academy. In 1933, only two years after beginning at the academy, the Nazi party began to rise.  The school was taken over by Nazis and after being dismissed, Klee and his family left Germany.  The Nazi's eventually removed or destroyed 102 of his works from museums.  However, this did not dampen his spirt.  Klee continued to produce works until he died of a rare skin disease in 1940.  His art that still remains keeps his style alive.

       I chose Paul Klee because I was unsure who to choose and began exploring the Lilly Library art collection magazines and books.  When I stumbled upon Klee as a 20th century artist, I was immediately struck by how much I liked his use of color.  In pieces like Static-Dynamic Gradiation, color is the only subject yet the art remains interesting and engaging to look at and consider for a long time.  Clarification also had this effect on me, though the color scheme was lighter. This piece is interesting because again Klee uses varying techniques, like tiny dots of color layers over cubes of pastel colors, to pull his audience in.

Clarification, 1932. oil on canvas

       As a man who studied his art his whole life, Klee came to use lots of different materials.  He seemed to never get too comfortable in one medium, and all the pieces I chose were not completely encompassing of that.  Klee liked to layer different materials to produce different effects.  He used canvas, paper, oil, gauche, pencil, ink, watercolor, metal foil and more to create his masterpieces. Klee's father was a musician and he always tried to carry over the harmonies and rhythms into his work, as he did in Clarification.  Klee produces very beautiful and abstract art. As someone who has always struggled to produce abstract forms from my imagination, it is inspiring to see such a unique and beautiful abstract piece such as Klee's, and be able to appreciate what was in his mind's eye as he created his art.  These are some of my favorite abstract pieces, made towards the end of Paul Klee's career.

Angel Applicant, 1939. gouache, ink and pencil on paper

Disturbance, 1932. oil on canvas

References:

Ann Temkin. "Klee, Paul." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Sep. 2017.

"KLEE, Paul." Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Sep. 2017. 

Paul Klee: Angel Applicant, gouache, ink and pencil on paper, h. 19-1/4, w. 13-3/8 inches (48.9 x 34 cm.), 1939 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984, Accession ID: 1984.315.60); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Paul Klee: Static-Dynamic Gradation, oil and gouache on paper, bordered with gouache, watercolor, and ink, h. 15, w. 10-1/4 inches (38.1 x 26.1 cm.), 1923 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1987, Accession ID: 1987.455.12); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Sep. 2017. 

Paul Klee: Tale à la Hoffmann, watercolour, pencil and transferred printing ink on paper, bordered with metallic foil, h. 12-1/4, w. 9-1/2 inches (31.1 x 24.1 cm.), 1921 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984, Accession ID: 1984.315.26); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paul Klee: Clarification, oil on canvas, h. 27-3/4, w. 37-7/8 inches (70.5 x 96.2 cm.), 1932 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984, Accession ID: 1984.315.54); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paul Klee: Disturbance, oil on canvas, 1934 (Turin, Galleria d’ Moderna); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo credit: Alinari/Art Resource, NY