Difference between revisions of "Paul Klee"

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'''Paul Klee''' (18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a painter born in Switzerland, and is considered to be a German-Swiss. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was also a student of orientalism.
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{{Infobox artist
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|image = Paul_Klee_Munich_1911.jpg
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|imagesize = 338px
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|caption = Paul Klee, Munich, 1911. Photo: Alexander Eliasberg. [http://www.emuseum.zpk.org/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultListView/result.t1.collection_list.$TspTitleImageLink.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=2&sp=1&sp=SdetailList&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=1&sp=F&sp=T&sp=11]
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|birth_date = {{birth date|1879|12|18|mf=y}}
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|birth_place = Münchenbuchsee near Bern, Switzerland
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|death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|6|29|1879|12|18|mf=y}}
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|death_place = Muralto, Switzerland
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|collections = [http://www.emuseum.zpk.org/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&moduleFunction=highlight&filterName=filter.collection.highlights&viewType=detailList ZPK Bern], [[MoMA::{{MoMA|3130}}|MoMA]]
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|web = [[Wikipedia::http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee|Wikipedia]], [[Wikipedia::http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee|Wikipedia-DE]]
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}}
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[[Image:Paul_Klee_in_his_studio_Bauhaus_Weimar_1924.png|thumb|350px|Klee in his Weimar Bauhaus studio, 1924. [http://www.emuseum.zpk.org/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultListView/result.t1.collection_list.$TspTitleImageLink.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=4&sp=1&sp=SdetailList&sp=15&sp=Sdetail&sp=1&sp=F&sp=T&sp=29] ]]
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'''Paul Klee''' (1879–1940) was a Swiss artist. His work inherently resists easy classification. Rooted in Symbolism, [[Expressionism]], [[Cubism]], Orphism, [[Constructivism]], and [[Surrealism]], his work is a veritable index of twentieth-century art. Klee freely maneuvered between abstraction and representation, creating works which range from the openly gestural to the tightly geometric, the wholly linear to the wholly chromatic.
  
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==Legacy==
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==Chronology==
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Since 1995, the "Paul Klee-Archiv" [Paul Klee Archive] of the University of Jena houses an extensive collection of works by Klee. It is located within the art history department, established by Franz-Joachim Verspohl. It encompasses the private library of book collector Rolf Sauerwein which contains nearly 700 works from 30 years composed of monographs about Klee, exhibition catalogues, extensive secondary literature as well as originally illustrated issues, a postcard and a signed photography portrait of Klee.
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Sourced from [http://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/klee-agueli/biografier/ Moderna Museet, Stockholm], 2016. Cf. chronology by [https://www.zpk.org/en/collection-research/paul-klee-%281879-1940%29-49.html Paul Klee Zentrum].
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<div class="dpl" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:.95em">
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* 1879 Paul Klee is born on 18 December in Münchenbuchsee outside Bern in Switzerland. His father is a music teacher, Hans Wilhelm Klee (1849–1940), and his mother a singer, Ida Marie (1855–1921), née Frick. Since his father is German, Klee is automatically a German citizen, according to Swiss law.
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* 1898 Moves to Munich to study art. Begins keeping a diary, and continues to do so until 1918.
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* 1901-02 Goes on a study trip to Italy. On returning to Bern, he works as a concert violinist.
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* 1905 Visit Paris together with the painter Louis Moilliet (1880–1962) and the writer Hans Bloesch (1878–1945).
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* 1906 Marries the concert pianist Lily Stumpf (1876–1946). Moves to Munich.
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* 1907 Their son Felix (1907–1990) is born. Klee stays at home with his son while his wife works.
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* 1910 Klee’s first solo exhibition opens in Bern and tours to three other cities in Switzerland.
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* 1911 Starts cataloguing his works. Co-founds the artist organisation Sema. Meets the artists August Macke (1887–1914), [[Franz Marc]] (1880–1916), Alexei von Jawlensky (1864–1941), Gabriele Münter (1877–1962) and [[Wassily Kandinsky]] (1866–1944), and joins the editorial team of Almanach Der Blaue Reiter that winter.
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* 1912 Shows prints in [[Der Blaue Reiter]]’s second exhibition. Travels to Paris and encounters cubist works and [[Robert Delaunay]]’s (1885–1941) abstract colour compositions. In May, the Blaue Reiter calendar is issued, a publication intended as "a forum for the new ambition that is now emerging in all fields of art, of which the fundamental tendency is: to expand the prevailing boundaries for artistic ability."
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* 1913 Commissioned to translate [[Robert Delaunay|Delaunay]]’s essay "Light" into German. Klee adopts the ideas expressed in this essay for his own art.
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* 1914 Travels with August Macke and Louis Moilliet to Tunisia, where he begins to consider himself an artist for the first time. Co-founder of the artist association Neue Münchener Secession.
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* 1916 Drafted into the army.
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* 1917 Transferred in January to administrative duties in Gersthofen, where he is able to paint in his spare time. His art sells well, and he is referred to as one of the best German artists.
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* 1918 Released from military service in November and returns to Munich.
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* 1919 Joins the editorial team of the art publication ''Münchener Blätter''. The art dealer Hans Goltz (1873–1927) was given exclusive rights to sell Klee’s works.
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* 1920 Klee is selling well. Goltz organises a major retrospective exhibition of 362 of his works. Two monographs are published, with diary entries provided by Klee. In October, he is offered a position at the [[Bauhaus|Staatliches Bauhaus]].
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* 1921 Begins teaching at the [[Bauhaus]] in Weimar as a design master in the book binding workshop.
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* 1922 Appointed master of the metal workshop and later of the coloured glass workshop. Resumes his friendship with Kandinsky when the latter begins teaching at the Bauhaus.
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* 1923 Exhibits 270 works in Berlin.
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* 1924 His first exhibition in the USA. Holds his lecture ''[[#Klee1945|On Modern Art]]'', which is published several years later.
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* 1925 The Bauhaus moves from Weimar to Dessau. Klee publishes his ''[[#Klee1925|Pedagogical Sketchbook]]''. His contract with Goltz terminates with a major exhibition. Signs a new contract with the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim (1878–1937). Presents is works in Paris for the first time, winning great accolade among the surrealists.
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* 1926 The family moves to a two-family house in Dessau designed by [[Walter Gropius]]. They share the house with Nina and [[Wassily Kandinsky]].
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* 1927 Takes over as master of textile composition, and teaches painting together with Kandinsky.
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* 1928 Visits Egypt towards the end of the year.
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* 1929 Will Grohmann (1887–1968) publishes his monograph on Klee.
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* 1930 Solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
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* 1931 Resigns from the Bauhaus when it grows harder to combine teaching with his work as an artist. Begins teaching at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Art in the autumn.
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* 1933 An official persecution of Klee is launched by the new Nazi regime. His art is classified as degenerate. He is banned from working as an artist and loses his job as a teacher at the Academy in Dusseldorf on 21 April. 102 of his works are confiscated from museums in Germany. Klee moves with Lily to Dusseldorf. Signs a contract with [[Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler]] in Paris. Emigrates to Switzerland with his family in December.
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* 1934 Settles in Bern.
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* 1935 Suffers from scleroderma, an autoimmune disease. One of the symptoms is that he has difficulties swallowing.
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* 1937 A few of his confiscated works feature in the exhibition ''[[Entartete Kunst]]'' in Munich.
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* 1938 Enigmatic, gloomy signs appear in his paintings, for instance in ''Yet Another Dark Messenger'' and ''Monument to an Animal''.
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* 1939 Creates a series of pictures of angels.
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* 1940 Klee’s father dies. Paul Klee dies as a result of scleroderma in Lucerne on 29 June, shortly before being granted Swiss citizenship.
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</div>
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==Publications==
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[[Image:Klee_Paul_Paedagogisches_Skizzenbuch.jpg|thumb|350px|''Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch'', 1925, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7442 Log], [http://bibliothequekandinsky.centrepompidou.fr/imagesbk/RLPF724/M5050_X0031_LIV_RLPF0724.pdf PDF] (33 MB).]]
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[[Image:Klee_Paul_Ueber_die_moderne_Kunst_1945.jpg|thumb|350px|''Über die moderne Kunst'' [1924], 1945, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7518 Log], [[Media:Klee_Paul_Ueber_die_moderne_Kunst.pdf|PDF]], [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2013102711080 DNB].]]
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* [http://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/cgi-bin/bluemtn?a=d&d=bmtnabg191301-02.2.7 "Ueber das Licht"], in ''Der Sturm'' 144-145, Berlin, Jan 1913, pp 255-256; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, pp 116-117. Klee's translation of "Sur la lumiere" by Robert Delaunay. {{de}}
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* [http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/utils/getdownloaditem/collection/dada/id/24362/filename/25231.pdf/mapsto/pdf "Über den Wert der Kritik: Antworten auf eine Rundfrage an die Künstler"], ''Der Ararat'' 2, Munich, 1921, p 130; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, p 123. {{de}}
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* "Schöpferische Konfession", in ''Tribune der Kunst und Zeit XIII: Schopferische Konfession'', ed. Kasimir Edschmid, Berlin: Erich Reiss, 1920; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, pp 18-22. {{de}}
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** [https://monoskop.org/images/1/15/Paul_Klee_Notebooks_Vol_1_The_Thinking_Eye.pdf#page=60 "Creative Credo"], in Klee, ''The Thinking Eye'', 1961, pp 76-80. {{en}}
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* [http://bibliothequekandinsky.centrepompidou.fr/imagesbk/FondsKandinskyL498/M5050_X0031_LKA_L498.pdf#page=28 "Wege des Naturstudiums"], in ''Staatliche Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923'', Weimar and Munich: Bauhausverlag, 1923, pp 24-25; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, pp 124-126. {{de}}
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** [https://monoskop.org/images/1/15/Paul_Klee_Notebooks_Vol_1_The_Thinking_Eye.pdf#page=53 "Ways of Nature Study"], in Klee, ''The Thinking Eye'', 1961, pp 63-67. {{en}}
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* {{a|Klee1925}} ''[http://bibliothequekandinsky.centrepompidou.fr/imagesbk/RLPF724/M5050_X0031_LIV_RLPF0724.pdf Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch]'', Munich: Albert Langen, 1925, 50 pp. {{de}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7442 Pedagogical Sketchbook]'', intro. & trans. Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1953, 65 pp; London: Faber and Faber, 1984. {{en}}
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_%CE%A0%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%B4%CE%B1%CE%B3%CF%89%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C_%CE%A3%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF.pdf|Παιδαγωγικό Σημειωματάριο]]'', trans. Β. Λαγοπούλου,  Πανας [Panas], 1976. {{gr}}
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_Pedagogikheskie_eskizy.pdf|Pedagogikheskie eskizy]]'', trans. N. Druzhkovoy, 2005. {{ru}}
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* "Kandinsky", in ''Katalog Jubilaumsausstellungzum 60. Geburtstag von W. Kandinsky'', Dresden: Galerie Arnold, 1926; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, pp 127-128. {{de}}
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* "Emil Nolde" ''in Festschrift fur Emil Nolde, anlässlich seines 60. Geburtstages'', Dresden: Neue Kunst Fides, 1927; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, p 129. {{de}}
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* [https://monoskop.org/images/f/ff/Bauhaus_2-2_3_1928.pdf#page=19 "exakte versuche im bereich der kunst"], ''Bauhaus: Zeitschrift fur Gestaltung'' 2:2-3, Dessau, Jul 1928, p 17; repr. in Klee, ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', 1976, pp 130-132. {{de}}
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** [https://monoskop.org/images/1/15/Paul_Klee_Notebooks_Vol_1_The_Thinking_Eye.pdf#page=56 "Exact Experiments in the Realm of Art"], in Klee, ''The Thinking Eye'', 1961, pp 69-70. {{en}}
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* {{a|Klee1945}} ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_Ueber_die_moderne_Kunst.pdf|Über die moderne Kunst]]'', Bern-Bümpliz: Benteli, 1945, 53 pp, [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2013102711080 DNB]. Lecture given at the opening of an exhibition at the Museum in Jena on 26 January 1924. {{de}}
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** [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7518 ''On Modern Art''], trans. Paul Findlay, intro. Herbert Read, London: Faber and Faber, 1948, 56 pp. {{en}}
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_Modern_Sanat_Uzerine.pdf|Modern Sanat Üzerine]]'', trans. Rahmi G. Öğdül, Altikirkbes Yayin, 1995; 2002; 2007. {{tr}}
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* "Klee", in ''Anthologie der Abseitigen. Poètes á l'ecart'', ed. Carola Giedion-Welcker, Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1946; rev.ed., Zürich: Die Arche, 1964. Poems. {{de}}
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* ''Das bildnerische Denken'', ed. Jürg Spiller, Basel and Stuttgart: Schwabe, 1956. {{de}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=10127 Paul Klee Notebooks, Vol. 1: The Thinking Eye]'', trans. Ralph Manheim, with Charlotte Weidler and Joyce Wittenborn, London: Lund Humphries, 1961; New York: Wittenborn, 1961. {{en}}
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* ''Tagebücher von Paul Klee, 1898-1918'', ed. & intro. Félix Klee, Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1957; Zurich: Europa, 1957. {{de}}
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_The_Diaries_of_Paul_Klee_1898-1918 1964.pdf|The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918]]'', Berkeley: University of California, 1964; London: Peter Owen, 1964. {{en}}
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* ''Gedichte'', ed. Felix Klee, Zurich: Die Arche, 1960. Poems {{de}}
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** [[Media:Klee_Paul_Some_Poems.pdf|''Some Poems by Paul Klee'']], ed. & trans. Anselm Hollo, Suffolk, UK: Scorpion Press, 1962, 35 pp. {{en}}
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* ''Unendliche Naturgeschichte'', ed. Jürg Spiller, Basel and Stuttgart: Schwabe, 1970. {{de}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=10127 Paul Klee Notebooks, Vol. 2: The Nature of Nature]'', trans. Heinz Norden, London: Lund Humphries, 1973; New York: Wittenborn, 1973. {{en}}
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* ''Three Painter Poets: Arp, Schwitters, Klee: Selected Poems'', ed. Harriet Watts, Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1974. {{en}}
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* ''Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze'', ed. Christian Geelhaar, Cologne: DuMont, 1976. Artist's writings: reviews and essays. {{de}}
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* ''Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre'', ed. Jürgen Glaesemer, Basel and Stuttgart: Schwabe, 1979. Facsimile edition of lecture notes and other writings at Weimar Bauhaus, 1921-22.
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* ''Briefe an die Familie 1893-1940. Bd. 1: 1893-1906; Bd. 2: 1907-1940'', 2 vols., Cologne: DuMont, 1979. Artist's letters to his family. {{de}}
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* ''Čáry'', trans. Ivan Wernisch, Prague: Odeon, 1990, 172 pp. Poems. {{cz}}
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[http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Paul_Klee More texts] (on Wikisource-DE)
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[[Image:Klee_Paul_Beitraege_zur_bildnerischen_Formlehre_Einband_vorne.jpg|thumb|350px|[Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre], [1921-22], [http://www.kleegestaltungslehre.zpk.org/ee/ZPK/BF/2012/01/01/ JPG, PDF], [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=15367 Log].]]
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==Manuscripts==
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* [http://www.kleegestaltungslehre.zpk.org/ee/ZPK/BF/2012/01/01/ Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre], [Nov 1921-Dec 1922], [192] pp. A book of lectures and exercises made while teaching at Bauhaus; kept in Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Facsimile ed. with transcriptions published as ''Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre. Faksimile des Originalmanuskripts von Paul Klees erstem Vortragszyklus am Bauhaus Weimar 1921/22'', ed. Jürgen Glaesemer, Paul-Klee-Stiftung, 1979, 190 pp; repr., 1999.
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* [http://www.kleegestaltungslehre.zpk.org/ee/ZPK/Archiv/2011/01/25/00006/ Bildnerische Gestaltungslehre], [1923-31], [c3900] pp. A collection of loose manuscript pages of notes and sketches made while teaching at Bauhaus; kept in Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. {{de}}
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==Catalogues==
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* ''[http://archive.org/details/paulk00klee Paul Klee]'', Berlin: Der Sturm, [1918], [24] pp. 22 works from 1913-16. {{de}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_MoMA_1941.pdf|Paul Klee]]'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1941, 12+[10] pp. With texts by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., James Johnson Sweeney, Julia and Lyonel Feininger. [https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2816?locale=en] {{en}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_MoMA_1949.pdf|Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by Paul Klee: From the Klee Foundation, Berne, Switzerland with Additions from American Collections]]'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1949. [https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2817?locale=en] {{en}}
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* ''[http://archive.org/details/paulklee1879klee Paul Klee, 1879-1940: A Retrospective Exhibition]'', intro. Will Grohmann, New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1967. {{en}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_Centennial_Prints_and_Transfer_MoMA_1979.pdf|Paul Klee Centennial: Prints and Transfer Drawings]]'', New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1978, 16 pp. [https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1825?locale=en] {{en}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_Leben_und_Werk_1987.pdf|Paul Klee. Leben und Werk]]'', Stuttgart: Gerd Hatje, and Teufen: Arthur Niggli, 1987, 356 pp. [https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1769?locale=en] {{de}}
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* ''[[Media:Lanchner_Carolyn_ed_Paul_Klee_1987.pdf|Paul Klee]]'', ed. Carolyn Lanchner, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1987, 344 pp. With texts by Ann Temkin, O.K. Werkmeister, Jürgen Glaesemer, Carolyn Lanchner.  [https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1769?locale=en] {{en}}
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* ''[https://aaaaarg.fail/thing/5eac8f4a9ff37c52192e81c9 Paul Klee: The Berggruen Klee Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art]'', New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988. {{en}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_The_Bauhaus_Years_Works_from_1918-1931_2013.pdf|Paul Klee: The Bauhaus Years: Works from 1918-1931]]'', New York: Dickinson Roundell, 2013, 103 pp, [http://issuu.com/simoncdickinsonltd/docs/final_klee_5.2 Issuu]. With essays by Olivier Berggruen and Rémi Labrusse. {{en}}
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* ''[[Media:Paul_Klee_Bauhaus_Master_2013.pdf|Paul Klee: Bauhaus Master]]'', Madrid: La Fábrica/Fundación Juan March, 2013, 285 pp. A selection of 137 works from 1899-1940, ca. 100 handwritten notes selected from classes Klee gave at the Bauhaus, and an array of archival objects and documents. [http://www.march.es/arte/madrid/exposiciones/paul-klee/articulos.aspx?l=1] [http://www.march.es/arte/catalogos/ficha.aspx?p0=cat:230&p1=216&l=2] {{en}}
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** ''[http://www.march.es/arte/catalogos/ficha.aspx?p0=cat:229&p1=216&l=2 Paul Klee: maestro de la Bauhaus]'', Madrid: La Fábrica/Fundación Juan March, 2013, 285 pp. [http://www.march.es/arte/madrid/exposiciones/paul-klee/articulos.aspx?l=1] {{es}}
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* ''Klee/Aguéli'', Stockholm: Moderna Museet, 2016. [http://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/klee-agueli/] {{sw}}
  
 
==Literature==
 
==Literature==
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; Books by Klee
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* Leopold Zahn, ''[http://archive.org/details/paulkleelebenwer00zahnuoft Paul Klee: Leben, Werk, Geist]'', Potsdam: Gustav Kiepenheuer, 1920. {{de}}
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* Über die moderne Kunst, Bern-Bümpliz: Benteli, 1945. (in German)
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* Nika Hulton, ''An Approach to Paul Klee'', Phoenix House, 1956. {{en}}
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** [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7518 ''On Modern Art''], trans. Paul Findlay, London: Faber and Faber, London, 1948.
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* Felix Klee, ''Paul Klee: Leben und Werke in Dokumenten'', Zürich: Diogenes, 1960. {{de}}
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* ''Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch'', 1925. (in German)
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Felix_Paul_Klee_His_Life_and_Work_in_Documents_1962.pdf|Paul Klee: His Life and Work in Documents]]'', trans. Richard Winston and Clara Winston, New York: Braziller, 1962, 212 pp. {{en}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=7442 Pedagogical Sketchbook]'', trans. Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1960.
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** ''Paul Klee par lui-même et parson fils Félix Klee'', ed. Maurice Besset, Paris: Les Librairies associees, 1963. {{fr}}
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** ''[[Media:Klee_Paul_%CE%A0%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%B4%CE%B1%CE%B3%CF%89%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C_%CE%A3%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF.pdf|Παιδαγωγικό Σημειωματάριο]]'', trans. Β. Λαγοπούλου, 1976. (in Greek)
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* James Smith Pierce, ''Paul Klee and Primitive Art'', Garland, 1976 {{en}}.
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* ''Das bildnerische Denken'', Basel: Schwabe & Co., 1956. (in German)
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* Pierre Boulez, ''Le pays fertile. La musique de Paul Klee'', Gallimard, 1989. {{fr}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=10127 Paul Klee Notebooks, Vol. 1: The Thinking Eye]'', trans. Ralph Manheim, London: Lund Humphries, 1961.  
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** ''[[Media:Boulez_Pierre_Il_paese_fertile_Paul_Klee_e_la_musica.pdf|Il paese fertile. Paul Klee e la musica]]'', trans. Guillemette Denis, Milan: Leonardo, 1990, 181 pp. {{it}}
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* ''Gedichte'', Verlag der Arche, Zurich, 1960. (in German)
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* Marcel Franciscono, ''Paul Klee: His Work and Thought'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
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** [[Media:Paul_Klee_Some_Poems_1962.pdf|''Some poems'']], trans. Anselm Hollo, 1962.
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* Regine Prange, ''[http://d-nb.info/988580497/34 Das Kristalline als Kunstsymbol. Bruno Taut und Paul Klee: zur Reflexion des Abstrakten in Kunst und Kunsttheorie der Moderne]'', Hildesheim: Olms, 1991, 511 pp. {{de}}
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* ''The Diaries of Paul Klee 1898–1918'', ed. Felix Klee, Berkeley: University of California, 1964.
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* Rainer Crone, Joseph Leo Koerner, ''[[Media:Crone Rainer Koerner Joseph Leo Paul_Klee_Legends_of_the_Sign 1991.pdf|Paul Klee: Legends of the Sign]]'', New York: Columbia University Press, 1991, 86 pp. {{en}}
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* ''Unendliche Naturgeschichte'', Basel: Schwabe & Co., Basel, 1970.
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* Annie Bourneuf, ''Paul Klee: The Visible and the Legible'', University of Chicago Press, 2015, 256 pp. [http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo17239318.html] {{en}}
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=10127 Paul Klee Notebooks, Vol. 1: The Thinking Eye]'', trans. Ralph Manheim, London: Lund Humphries, London, 1961.
+
 
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** ''[http://monoskop.org/log/?p=10127 Paul Klee Notebooks, Vol. 2: The Nature of Nature]'', trans. Heinz Norden, London: Lund Humphries, 1973.  
+
==Documentaries==
 +
* ''Paul Klee – Die blaue Glut'', dir. Birgitta Ashoff, 45 min, 2004.  {{de}}
 +
* ''Paul Klee. Die Stille des Engels'', dir. Michael Gaumnitz, 52 min, 2005.  {{de}}
 +
* ''Die Tunisreise. Auf den Spuren von Paul Klee'', dir. Bruno Moll, 76 min, 2007. {{de}}
 +
 
 +
==See also==
 +
* [[Der Blaue Reiter]]
 +
* [[Bauhaus]]
  
−
; Books on Klee
+
==Links==
−
* Nika Hulton, ''An Approach to Paul Klee'', Phoenix House, 1956
+
* [https://www.zpk.org/ Zentrum Paul Klee], Bern
−
* James Smith Pierce, ''Paul Klee and primitive art'', Garland Pub., 1976
+
* [http://www.emuseum.zpk.org/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&moduleFunction=highlight&filterName=filter.collection.photos&viewType=detailList Portraits]
−
* Paul Rand, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=5778 ''A Designer’s Art''], Yale University Press, 1985.
 
−
* Pierre Boulez, ''Le pays fertile. La musique de Paul Klee'', Gallimard, 1989. (in French)
 
−
** [[Media:Pierre_Boulez_l_paese_fertile._Paul_Klee_e_la_musica_1990.pdf|''Il Paese fertile. Paul Klee e la musica'']] (Italian transl. by Paule Thevenin), Leonardo, 1990
 
−
* Marcel Franciscono, ''Paul Klee: His work and thought'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
 
  
−
==External links==
+
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klee, Paul}} [[Category:Bauhaus]]
−
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee Klee at Wikipedia]
 

Latest revision as of 23:00, 25 May 2022


Paul Klee, Munich, 1911. Photo: Alexander Eliasberg. [2]
Born December 18, 1879(1879-12-18)
Münchenbuchsee near Bern, Switzerland
Died June 29, 1940(1940-06-29) (aged 60)
Muralto, Switzerland
Web Wikipedia, Wikipedia-DE
Collections ZPK Bern, MoMA
Klee in his Weimar Bauhaus studio, 1924. [1]

Paul Klee (1879–1940) was a Swiss artist. His work inherently resists easy classification. Rooted in Symbolism, Expressionism, Cubism, Orphism, Constructivism, and Surrealism, his work is a veritable index of twentieth-century art. Klee freely maneuvered between abstraction and representation, creating works which range from the openly gestural to the tightly geometric, the wholly linear to the wholly chromatic.

Chronology[edit]

Sourced from Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2016. Cf. chronology by Paul Klee Zentrum.

  • 1879 Paul Klee is born on 18 December in Münchenbuchsee outside Bern in Switzerland. His father is a music teacher, Hans Wilhelm Klee (1849–1940), and his mother a singer, Ida Marie (1855–1921), née Frick. Since his father is German, Klee is automatically a German citizen, according to Swiss law.
  • 1898 Moves to Munich to study art. Begins keeping a diary, and continues to do so until 1918.
  • 1901-02 Goes on a study trip to Italy. On returning to Bern, he works as a concert violinist.
  • 1905 Visit Paris together with the painter Louis Moilliet (1880–1962) and the writer Hans Bloesch (1878–1945).
  • 1906 Marries the concert pianist Lily Stumpf (1876–1946). Moves to Munich.
  • 1907 Their son Felix (1907–1990) is born. Klee stays at home with his son while his wife works.
  • 1910 Klee’s first solo exhibition opens in Bern and tours to three other cities in Switzerland.
  • 1911 Starts cataloguing his works. Co-founds the artist organisation Sema. Meets the artists August Macke (1887–1914), Franz Marc (1880–1916), Alexei von Jawlensky (1864–1941), Gabriele Münter (1877–1962) and Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), and joins the editorial team of Almanach Der Blaue Reiter that winter.
  • 1912 Shows prints in Der Blaue Reiter’s second exhibition. Travels to Paris and encounters cubist works and Robert Delaunay’s (1885–1941) abstract colour compositions. In May, the Blaue Reiter calendar is issued, a publication intended as "a forum for the new ambition that is now emerging in all fields of art, of which the fundamental tendency is: to expand the prevailing boundaries for artistic ability."
  • 1913 Commissioned to translate Delaunay’s essay "Light" into German. Klee adopts the ideas expressed in this essay for his own art.
  • 1914 Travels with August Macke and Louis Moilliet to Tunisia, where he begins to consider himself an artist for the first time. Co-founder of the artist association Neue Münchener Secession.
  • 1916 Drafted into the army.
  • 1917 Transferred in January to administrative duties in Gersthofen, where he is able to paint in his spare time. His art sells well, and he is referred to as one of the best German artists.
  • 1918 Released from military service in November and returns to Munich.
  • 1919 Joins the editorial team of the art publication Münchener Blätter. The art dealer Hans Goltz (1873–1927) was given exclusive rights to sell Klee’s works.
  • 1920 Klee is selling well. Goltz organises a major retrospective exhibition of 362 of his works. Two monographs are published, with diary entries provided by Klee. In October, he is offered a position at the Staatliches Bauhaus.
  • 1921 Begins teaching at the Bauhaus in Weimar as a design master in the book binding workshop.
  • 1922 Appointed master of the metal workshop and later of the coloured glass workshop. Resumes his friendship with Kandinsky when the latter begins teaching at the Bauhaus.
  • 1923 Exhibits 270 works in Berlin.
  • 1924 His first exhibition in the USA. Holds his lecture On Modern Art, which is published several years later.
  • 1925 The Bauhaus moves from Weimar to Dessau. Klee publishes his Pedagogical Sketchbook. His contract with Goltz terminates with a major exhibition. Signs a new contract with the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim (1878–1937). Presents is works in Paris for the first time, winning great accolade among the surrealists.
  • 1926 The family moves to a two-family house in Dessau designed by Walter Gropius. They share the house with Nina and Wassily Kandinsky.
  • 1927 Takes over as master of textile composition, and teaches painting together with Kandinsky.
  • 1928 Visits Egypt towards the end of the year.
  • 1929 Will Grohmann (1887–1968) publishes his monograph on Klee.
  • 1930 Solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
  • 1931 Resigns from the Bauhaus when it grows harder to combine teaching with his work as an artist. Begins teaching at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Art in the autumn.
  • 1933 An official persecution of Klee is launched by the new Nazi regime. His art is classified as degenerate. He is banned from working as an artist and loses his job as a teacher at the Academy in Dusseldorf on 21 April. 102 of his works are confiscated from museums in Germany. Klee moves with Lily to Dusseldorf. Signs a contract with Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler in Paris. Emigrates to Switzerland with his family in December.
  • 1934 Settles in Bern.
  • 1935 Suffers from scleroderma, an autoimmune disease. One of the symptoms is that he has difficulties swallowing.
  • 1937 A few of his confiscated works feature in the exhibition Entartete Kunst in Munich.
  • 1938 Enigmatic, gloomy signs appear in his paintings, for instance in Yet Another Dark Messenger and Monument to an Animal.
  • 1939 Creates a series of pictures of angels.
  • 1940 Klee’s father dies. Paul Klee dies as a result of scleroderma in Lucerne on 29 June, shortly before being granted Swiss citizenship.

Publications[edit]

Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch, 1925, Log, PDF (33 MB).
Über die moderne Kunst [1924], 1945, Log, PDF, DNB.
  • "Ueber das Licht", in Der Sturm 144-145, Berlin, Jan 1913, pp 255-256; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, pp 116-117. Klee's translation of "Sur la lumiere" by Robert Delaunay. (German)
  • "Über den Wert der Kritik: Antworten auf eine Rundfrage an die Künstler", Der Ararat 2, Munich, 1921, p 130; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, p 123. (German)
  • "Schöpferische Konfession", in Tribune der Kunst und Zeit XIII: Schopferische Konfession, ed. Kasimir Edschmid, Berlin: Erich Reiss, 1920; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, pp 18-22. (German)
  • "Wege des Naturstudiums", in Staatliche Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923, Weimar and Munich: Bauhausverlag, 1923, pp 24-25; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, pp 124-126. (German)
  • "Kandinsky", in Katalog Jubilaumsausstellungzum 60. Geburtstag von W. Kandinsky, Dresden: Galerie Arnold, 1926; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, pp 127-128. (German)
  • "Emil Nolde" in Festschrift fur Emil Nolde, anlässlich seines 60. Geburtstages, Dresden: Neue Kunst Fides, 1927; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, p 129. (German)
  • "exakte versuche im bereich der kunst", Bauhaus: Zeitschrift fur Gestaltung 2:2-3, Dessau, Jul 1928, p 17; repr. in Klee, Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, 1976, pp 130-132. (German)
  • Über die moderne Kunst, Bern-Bümpliz: Benteli, 1945, 53 pp, DNB. Lecture given at the opening of an exhibition at the Museum in Jena on 26 January 1924. (German)
    • On Modern Art, trans. Paul Findlay, intro. Herbert Read, London: Faber and Faber, 1948, 56 pp. (English)
    • Modern Sanat Üzerine, trans. Rahmi G. Öğdül, Altikirkbes Yayin, 1995; 2002; 2007. (Turkish)
  • "Klee", in Anthologie der Abseitigen. Poètes á l'ecart, ed. Carola Giedion-Welcker, Bern-Bumpliz: Benteli, 1946; rev.ed., Zürich: Die Arche, 1964. Poems. (German)
  • Das bildnerische Denken, ed. Jürg Spiller, Basel and Stuttgart: Schwabe, 1956. (German)
  • Tagebücher von Paul Klee, 1898-1918, ed. & intro. Félix Klee, Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1957; Zurich: Europa, 1957. (German)
  • Gedichte, ed. Felix Klee, Zurich: Die Arche, 1960. Poems (German)
  • Three Painter Poets: Arp, Schwitters, Klee: Selected Poems, ed. Harriet Watts, Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1974. (English)
  • Schriften, Rezensionen und Aufsätze, ed. Christian Geelhaar, Cologne: DuMont, 1976. Artist's writings: reviews and essays. (German)
  • Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre, ed. Jürgen Glaesemer, Basel and Stuttgart: Schwabe, 1979. Facsimile edition of lecture notes and other writings at Weimar Bauhaus, 1921-22.
  • Briefe an die Familie 1893-1940. Bd. 1: 1893-1906; Bd. 2: 1907-1940, 2 vols., Cologne: DuMont, 1979. Artist's letters to his family. (German)
  • Čáry, trans. Ivan Wernisch, Prague: Odeon, 1990, 172 pp. Poems. (Czech)

More texts (on Wikisource-DE)

[Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre], [1921-22], JPG, PDF, Log.

Manuscripts[edit]

  • Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre, [Nov 1921-Dec 1922], [192] pp. A book of lectures and exercises made while teaching at Bauhaus; kept in Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Facsimile ed. with transcriptions published as Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre. Faksimile des Originalmanuskripts von Paul Klees erstem Vortragszyklus am Bauhaus Weimar 1921/22, ed. Jürgen Glaesemer, Paul-Klee-Stiftung, 1979, 190 pp; repr., 1999.
  • Bildnerische Gestaltungslehre, [1923-31], [c3900] pp. A collection of loose manuscript pages of notes and sketches made while teaching at Bauhaus; kept in Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. (German)

Catalogues[edit]

Literature[edit]

Documentaries[edit]

  • Paul Klee – Die blaue Glut, dir. Birgitta Ashoff, 45 min, 2004. (German)
  • Paul Klee. Die Stille des Engels, dir. Michael Gaumnitz, 52 min, 2005. (German)
  • Die Tunisreise. Auf den Spuren von Paul Klee, dir. Bruno Moll, 76 min, 2007. (German)

See also[edit]

Links[edit]

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