Prickle, The Clown

1921–1931

The preliminary course on the “theory of form”

Klee developed a preliminary course in the “theory of form” that began with the “point as the beginning of all beginnings”, moving through space, and the “cosmic egg” from which line, spiral, square, circle and cube are born. Students listened to lectures illustrated with Klee’s own abstract watercolours and then painted their own, trying to express movement, balance, flight and tension.

1928–1929

A journey to Egypt

Egypt impressed Klee less than Tunisia, yet in the desert he felt an almost mystical bond with the land: he was drawn to the proportions of the ancient funerary monuments and to the esoteric numerology by which they were built. His later “Ad Parnassum” was influenced by the trip.

1931

Leaving the Bauhaus for the Düsseldorf Academy

Teaching at the Bauhaus shifted ever more from painting towards an architectural aesthetic, which no longer suited Klee: in 1931 he gave up his post there and became a professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art.

1933

Nazi harassment, a house search and dismissal

When the Nazis came to power a campaign of persecution was launched against Klee: the press called him a “typical Galician Jew”, his flat in Dessau was searched, and in Düsseldorf he was barred from work until he produced documents proving Aryan descent. He was forced to give up his professorship.

late 1933

Emigration to Switzerland

At the end of 1933, at his wife’s insistence, Klee left Germany and returned to Bern. He applied for Swiss citizenship, but a positive answer came only after his death.

1933–1934

Shows in London and Paris, and a meeting with Picasso

In 1933–34 Klee had shows in London and Paris and finally met Pablo Picasso, whom he greatly admired.