Paul Klee

by Sandra Forty

Paul Klee’s philosophy of art is perhaps best summed up by his own “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.” As one of the great avant-garde artists of the 20th century, Swiss-born Klee was swept along with the changing moods and philosophies of the time. Klee did not readily fit into a particular artistic category. He used many styles and techniques, always exploring the different variations that each media opened up to him. An important element in Klee’s work is his use of symbols and words to convey thoughts and philosophies directly on the canvas. To provide the greatest degree of diversification in his creations, Klee habitually used a variety of surfaces on which to paint, not just conventional canvas but also linen and even fine gauze, and sometimes coarse burlap, board, or glass—any textured surface on which color could be applied. Klee’s interest, understanding, and analysis of color theory and tone—which he explained in several influential books—arguably may have left a greater legacy than his artworks.

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Sandra Forty is a graduate of London University where she studied medieval and early modern history, including a spell at the Courtald Institute learning about Renaissance art from Professor Gombrich.

Since then she has worked as a journalist in London, then as a book editor and writer.

She is the author of a number of books, most on art and architecture.

Reviews

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Klee by Sandra Forty is an interesting edition from the Taj Mini Book Series published by Taj Books International. There is a brief biography at the beginning outlining Klee’s life. He was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1879. As a young man he traveled to Munich to study art and eventually returned to Bern. He developed a method of etching that proved to be highly popular and more importantly led to his financial freedom. This freedom led to innovation and experimentation using a variety of media with multiple techniques on a variety of surfaces. During his career there was an explosion of styles, schools and isms. One would have to say that he was definitely Modernist but beyond that, it seems difficult to place him in any sub-genre. In 1907 he became a member of the Russo/German Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a Fauvist/cubist group whose philosophy was that powerful emotions could be produced by color alone. In1920 he was invited by Walter Gropius to became part of the German Bauhaus Academy. In 1923 with Kandinsky, Feininger and Jawlensky he formed Die Blaue Vier (The Blue Four). He was hugely productive creating more than 4000 paintings, over 5000 works on paper (some lost to Nazi purges), poetry and diaries. The book includes 82 plates from1905 to 1940.

[Philip Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small-sized picture catalogue of Klee's major works, with a short bio at the start.