Klee

by Paul Klee (Illustrator), Theodore Reff (Editor), Robert Fisher

A fine volume that has 91 color plates along with a biography and time line of the artist's life and notes on the plates.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction

127 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a Swiss painter and a German painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented with and eventually mastered color theory, and wrote extensively about it; his lectures Writings on Form and Design Theory (Schriften zur Form und Gestaltungslehre), published in English as the Paul Klee Notebooks, are considered so important for modern art that they are compared to the importance that Leonardo da Vinci's A Treatise on Painting had for Renaissance. He and his colleague , the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the German Bauhaus school of art, design and architecture. His works reflect his dry humour and his sometimes childlike perspective, his personal moods and beliefs, and his musicality.

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always appreciated the artists of the 'Blaue Reiter' group,
especially Franz Marc and Kandinsky. Paul Klee was also a member
however for me, his work is too 'Expressionistic'. Yet he's still
an interesting artist of the era.

This introductory style book consists of basic info on Klee; a
several page biography and then a collection of plates.
However only a title is provided for the plates - no history,
interpretation, not even a date (though on some Klee
provided that on the painting).

Coincidentally just visited the Dallas Museum of Art 10/06/2011
and they had a Klee. Looked like a painting of a place mat, but
still interesting experience.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourteen large-sized reproductions of Paul Klee's paintings. Such a small and necessarily idiosyncratic selection of Klee's work will of course leave any Klee fan mystified as to the selection criteria. Each reproduction includes, on its back the title, date painted, medium and a short sentence, in many cases a quotation from Klee which may or not be pertinent to the painting.

Taschen's reproductions are, as usual, breathtaking in quality. Since this book belongs to the series "Portfolio", there is next to no text in them -a brief paragraph introduces the book and a bare-bones all too brief chronology closes it.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tiny book is excellent! There are an abundance of gorgeous full color plates (91) of Klee's work from the earliest date until his death with notes about each piece. The introduction (11 pages) gives an excellent overview of his life and personal inspiration. This is a great book to introduce anyone to this artist.