Paul KleeGerman, 1879–1940Rock-Cut Temple
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
A professor at the Bauhaus from 1920 to 1933, Klee often experimented with the systemic use of line. One of Klee’s favored theories, that of the distinction between form and formation through the use of line, is demonstrated here. In this drawing, parallel lines create new architectural structures, highlighting the formative power of the artist and his line. For Klee, the end result, the form, was not important; the act of creation and the limitless possibilities of line were what mattered.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 2013.960
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Paul Klee
The whole life1921–1931
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.
1923
Galka Scheyer and the “Blue Four”
At the instigation of Galka Scheyer the “Blue Four” was formed — Klee, Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger and Alexej von Jawlensky. Scheyer subsequently organised exhibitions of their work in the United States.
26 January 1924
The lecture “On Modern Art” in Jena
At his exhibition at the Kunstverein in Jena Klee delivered the lecture “On Modern Art” (Über moderne Kunst).
1924–1925
Success with the Paris Surrealists
In 1924 Klee exhibited in Paris for the first time and became a hit with the French Surrealists, who were drawn to his partly morbid motifs. At the Paris Surrealist exhibition of 1925 Max Ernst was impressed by his work.
1925
Moving to Dessau with the Bauhaus
In 1925 the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, and Klee moved with the school.
1925
“Pedagogical Sketchbook” is published
Klee’s theoretical book “Pedagogical Sketchbook” (Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch) is published; five years earlier, in 1920, his essay “Schöpferische Konfession” had appeared.
