Tribute - Paul Klee June 29, 85th Anniversary of His Death

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, near Bern, on December 18, 1879. Like his father, Paul was of German nationality. From a very young age, Paul Klee was exposed to the arts, both music and visual arts. His father taught music, and his mother was trained in classical singing at the conservatory. He took violin and drawing lessons in his youth. His maternal grandmother encouraged him to choose the visual arts, as he already demonstrated a certain talent. 

Thus, Paul Klee began his apprenticeship alongside Heinrich Knirr, recognized as Adolf Hitler's official portrait painter. In 1900, he joined the Munich Academy of Fine Arts and furthered his studies at the Bern Academy of Fine Arts. Finally, he broadened his artistic horizons by taking a trip to Italy with his sculptor friend Hermann Haller to discover the painters of the Quattrocento. 

Munich, the Discovery 

A few years after meeting the young pianist Lily Stumpf, the couple married and moved to Munich in 1906. There, they discovered French Post-Impressionism and the Blue Rider. The Blue Rider was a group jointly founded by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1911. This group of Expressionist artists ended in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I. 

The name "Blue Rider" refers to Kandinsky's 1903 painting, Der Blaue Reiter. Furthermore, the horse can be identified as an ideal of freedom for the artists, and the color blue refers to notions of spirituality and contrasts with red, which symbolizes violence. This group was a first step towards abstraction. 

The Inventions 

Upon his arrival in Munich in 1906, Klee had the opportunity to exhibit his series of etchings,  Inventions, at the Secession exhibition. Founded in 1892, the Munich Secession brought together artists who sought to break with the academicism of traditional Bavarian art institutions. 

Paul Klee created his Inventions between 1903 and 1905, inspired by the Impressionists and printmakers such as Francisco Goya. 

This sample of the eleven works that make up the Inventions series highlights the small variations in technique over the course of two years of work. At the beginning of his career, his works remained figurative and the colors were still dull. From the 1910s onwards, the artist became particularly active. He founded the Sema group in 1911, which lasted only two years. In 1912, he joined the Der Blaue Reiter group and in 1913 the New Munich Secession. 

Blossoming in Tunisia 

In April 1914, Paul Klee traveled to Tunisia with two other painters: Auguste Macke and Louis Moilliet. For twelve days, they explored the panoramas of Tunis, Sidi Bou Said, and Kairouan. This trip had a great influence on Klee's style. He discovered new lights, colors, and a lush nature. These discoveries would have a lasting influence on his style. The figurative artist increasingly tended toward abstraction. 

His journal, which he kept until 1917, is a valuable aid to researchers. It was published in several languages and contains one of his most famous quotes: "Color possesses me. Color and I are one. I am a painter." Here, he shares the influence of Tunisian colors on these works, which demonstrate a notable change. 

Paul Klee now sought to materialize the invisible, starting with an economy of pictorial means. This intensified with the arrival of war, just a few months after his return from Tunisia. According to him, representing reality in a serene environment was easier than in a tormented one. This is why artists tend to turn more readily to abstraction when the environment is challenging.

1930, Klee Alone at MoMA 

Paul Klee was an innovative artist in terms of the techniques and media he used. His motifs, which straddled reality and abstraction, attracted criticism. Indeed, the artist did not seek to represent what was universally seen, but rather his own perception of the observed object. It could also be an emotion that crossed his mind at a specific moment.

Furthermore, his inseparable connection with music was an integral part of his art. Some attest that he regularly played the violin before composing a visual work.

Thus, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York decided to dedicate a solo exhibition to him in 1930. It was the museum's first exhibition dedicated to a living European artist. Contemporary MoMA director Alfred Barr reported some public protest. Nevertheless, American viewers perceived Paul Klee's genius earlier than Europeans. Today, the artist enjoys unprecedented success. 

• Some works presented at the 1930 exhibition

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