Paul Klee

File:Paul Klee 1892.jpg

Paul Klee (18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born artist whose 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 about it extensively. His lectures, "Paul Klee's notebooks", are considered as important for modern art as Leonardo da Vinci's A Treatise on Painting for the Renaissance.

Early Life and Education

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, into a musical family. His father, Hans Wilhelm Klee, was a German music teacher, and his mother, Ida Marie Klee, was a Swiss singer. Klee was a talented violinist, and at the age of 11, he was invited to play as an extraordinary member of the Bern Music Association. Despite his musical talent, Klee decided on a career in the visual arts.

In 1898, Klee began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where he was taught by Franz von Stuck. During his time in Munich, Klee developed his skills in drawing and began to explore the use of color.

Artistic Career

Klee's artistic career began in earnest in the early 1900s. He traveled to Italy in 1901, where he studied the works of the Old Masters. This trip had a profound impact on his understanding of color and form.

In 1911, Klee met Wassily Kandinsky and joined the Blaue Reiter group, which was a pivotal moment in his career. The group was known for its avant-garde approach to art, and Klee's work began to reflect the influence of Expressionism.

Klee's breakthrough came in 1914 when he visited Tunisia with fellow artists August Macke and Louis Moilliet. The trip was transformative, and Klee famously wrote, "Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever... Color and I are one. I am a painter."

Teaching and Theoretical Work

In 1920, Klee was invited to teach at the Bauhaus school of art, design, and architecture in Weimar, Germany. At the Bauhaus, Klee taught alongside other notable artists such as Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers.

Klee's teaching focused on the elements of art, including line, shape, and color. His lectures were compiled into the "Paul Klee Notebooks", which are considered seminal texts in the study of modern art.

Later Life and Legacy

In 1933, with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, Klee was dismissed from his position at the Bauhaus. He returned to Switzerland, where he continued to work despite suffering from scleroderma, a disease that affected his ability to paint.

Klee's work is characterized by a unique blend of abstraction and figuration, often incorporating symbols and hieroglyphs. His influence can be seen in the works of later artists such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

Also see

• Expressionism
• Cubism
• Surrealism
• Bauhaus
• Wassily Kandinsky
• Franz Marc