Paul Klee

Paul Klee by Hugo Erfurth, 1927

File:Paul Klee 1892.jpg

Paul Klee 1892

Paul Klee My Room 1896

Paul Klee Flower Myth 1918

Paul Klee, 1916

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Paul Klee, 1922, Red Balloon, oil on chalk-primed gauze, mounted on board, 31.7 x 31.1 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Paul Klee (18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included Expressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented with and eventually deeply explored color theory, writing extensively about it; his lectures Writings on Form and Design Theory (Schriften zur Form und Gestaltungslehre), published in English as the Paul Klee Notebooks, are considered as important for modern art as Leonardo da Vinci's A Treatise on Painting for the Renaissance. He and his colleague, the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the Bauhaus school of art, design, and architecture.

Early Life and Education

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, near Bern, Switzerland, into a musical family. His father, Hans Wilhelm Klee, was a German music teacher, and his mother, Ida Marie Klee (née Frick), was a Swiss singer. Encouraged by his parents, Klee began playing the violin at age seven and was so talented that he received an invitation to play as an extraordinary member of the Bern Music Association at age eleven. Despite his musical talent, Klee decided to focus on visual art, studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.

Artistic Career

Klee's artistic career began in earnest in 1906 when he married pianist Lily Stumpf and settled in Munich. His early works were primarily etchings and pen-and-ink drawings. In 1911, Klee met Wassily Kandinsky and joined the Der Blaue Reiter group, which was pivotal in his development as an artist. His travels to Tunisia in 1914 had a profound impact on his use of color, leading to his famous statement, "Color and I are one. I am a painter."

During World War I, Klee served in the German army but continued to produce art. After the war, he was invited to teach at the Bauhaus by its founder, Walter Gropius. Klee taught at the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1931, where he developed his theories on color and form, which he published in his influential notebooks.

Later Years and Death

In 1933, the rise of the Nazi Party forced Klee to leave Germany and return to Switzerland. The Nazis condemned his work as "degenerate art," and he was dismissed from his teaching position. Despite these challenges, Klee continued to work prolifically until his death in 1940 from scleroderma, a disease that had affected him for several years.

Legacy

Paul Klee's work has had a lasting impact on modern art. His exploration of color theory and his innovative use of line and form have influenced countless artists. His works are held in major collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, which is dedicated to his life and work.

Related Pages

• Expressionism
• Cubism
• Surrealism
• Wassily Kandinsky
• Bauhaus
• Degenerate art
• Zentrum Paul Klee