PAUL KLEEFLS – German Unit

ABOUT THE ARTIST

• Klee was born on December 18, 1879, in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland.

• His training as a painter began in Munich in 1898 where he studied drawing and painting for three years.

• By 1911, he became involved with the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), founded by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1911.

• His work was influenced by the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, and the abstract translucent color planes of Robert Delaunay.

FAMOUS PAINTINGS

CASTLE AND SUN – 1928

CASTLE AND SUN – 1928

• Paul Klee executed the cubism technique in this painting.

• The clay colored background gives viewers a clearer view of how the figures seem to form a city skyline of intense color and light.

• This oil on canvas painting has a complex array of triangular and rectangular figures to provide an imaginary metropolis of shapes.

SENECIO – 1922

SENECIO – 1922• Senecio is a manifestation of Paul’s sense of humor

and African culture. 

• The simple colors and shapes, Paul makes use of various shades of orange, red, and yellow to reveal portrait of an old man.

•  Artistic use of shapes gives the false impression that one eye brows is raised.

• His left eye brow is represented by a triangle while the other one is made of a simple curved line.

• The portrait is also called Head of a Man Going Senile and intentionally mimics children’s artwork by using ambiguous shapes and forms with minimal facial details.

CAT AND BIRD – 1928

CAT AND BIRD – 1928

• Cat and Bird is an animal painting in the Expressionism style.

• The cat appears to be “all head,” and the bird, on cat’s forehead, is symbolic of what the cat is thinking.

• The cat’s red nose is tipped with a heart, symbolizing his “heart’s desire.”