Paul Klee Notebooks, vol. 1: The Thinking Eye (1956–) & vol. 2: The Nature of Nature (1970–)

22 December 2013, dusan

Paul Klee Notebooks is a two-volume work by Paul Klee that collects his lectures at the Bauhaus schools in 1920s Germany and his other main essays on modern art. These works are considered so important for understanding modern art that they are compared to the importance that Leonardo’s A Treatise on Painting had for Renaissance; Herbert Read called the collection “the most complete presentation of the principles of design ever made by a modern artist – it constitutes the Principia Aesthetica of a new era of art, in which Klee occupies a position comparable to Newton’s in the realm of physics.”

The final work was edited by Swiss artist Jürg Spiller. In an earlier 1925 shorter book, Pedagogical Sketchbook, Klee published a condensation of his lectures at the Weimar Bauhaus. (from Wikipedia)

Volume 1
First published as Das bildnerische Denken, Schwabe & Co., Basel, 1956
Translated by Ralph Manheim
Edited by Jürg Spiller
Publisher Lund Humphries, London, 1961
541 pages

Volume 2
First published as Unendliche Naturgeschichte, Schwabe & Co., Basel, 1970
Translated by Heinz Norden
Edited by Jürg Spiller
Publisher Lund Humphries, London, 1973
454 pages

Volume 1: The Thinking Eye (42 MB, updated on 2019-12-25)
Volume 2: The Nature of Nature (49 MB, updated on 2019-12-25)

See also Klee’s class notes in manuscript (1921-31) and his Pedagogical Sketchbook (1925–).


5 Responses to “Paul Klee Notebooks, vol. 1: The Thinking Eye (1956–) & vol. 2: The Nature of Nature (1970–)”

  1. michael hafftka on December 23, 2013 8:45 pm

    Awesome, Thank you! I have missed these books for years!

  2. krasnopolsky on December 27, 2013 1:27 pm

    Very nice !

    Thank you !

    I did not see this, since my father castle in Argentina .

    Again Thank You .

    Jorge Adrian Krasnopolsky

  3. Amrit Kaur on November 27, 2014 10:25 pm

    Looked everywhere for these books and finally found here. Thanks a ton !!!

  4. Clem on March 5, 2016 8:40 pm

    In b&w? Seriously?

  5. Michael McEvou on April 5, 2021 10:53 am

    Thank you for posting. Paul Klee insights and ideas are such an inspiration and resonate with my music composition practice to moving image.

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