Paul Klee: The Poet of Visual Art

Paul Klee (1879-1940) is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. His work, characterised by a delicate balance between abstraction and realism, is deeply imbued with colour, line, and symbolism. Klee was not only a painter but also a thinker whose philosophy of art has profoundly influenced artists and art enthusiasts worldwide. His work reflects a search for the essence of things, a desire to capture the mystical and invisible dimensions of the world.

Source: Animato

Early Years: From Music to Visual Art

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, a village near Bern, Switzerland, into a musical family. His father was a music teacher, and his mother was a talented singer. Klee developed an early passion for music and learned to play the violin. This early love of music would have a lasting impact on his work. Klee considered music one of the highest forms of art, and throughout his life, he developed a visual language that translated rhythm, harmony, and tone into colour and line.

During his teenage years, Klee struggled with the choice between a career in music and one in visual art. One of the most quoted anecdotes from his youth recalls how he decided that his violin playing was “not technical enough” to pursue a career as a musician. He ultimately chose painting, but his works would always retain a certain musical quality.

Development as an Artist: Influences and Experimentation

Klee studied art in Munich, immersing himself in the avant-garde of his time. He was inspired by artists like Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, who transformed reality into abstract, colourful forms. Klee began his artistic exploration with etchings and pen-and-ink drawings. His early work is detailed and symbolic, filled with fine lines and subtle references to mythology and literature. He was often driven by a desire to express the invisible and the spiritual.

In 1914, Klee took a journey to Tunis, an experience that would prove a crucial turning point in his artistic development. In the intense colours and bright light of North Africa, he found a new understanding of colour. He later wrote in his diaries: “Colour has taken possession of me; I no longer need to pursue it; I know it will hold me forever.” This trip gave Klee the conviction that colour was not merely decorative but could hold deep, spiritual significance.

The Bauhaus Years: A Master in Teaching

In 1920, Klee was invited to teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar, where he remained until 1931. This period was of great importance to Klee’s artistic growth. The Bauhaus was an avant-garde art school where experimentation and theory were central. Klee felt at home there, finding it a place where he could delve deeper into his ideas about art.

Klee was a beloved teacher, and his lessons on colour and form were described by students as almost mystical. His classes on “form theory” combined theory and philosophy, in which he described colour as a force capable of conveying emotions and ideas. In his renowned lectures, captured in The Thinking Eye, Klee presented his vision of art as a form of ‘seeing,’ in which the painting became a means to reveal the essence of things. He encouraged his students to look beyond the surface and study the underlying structures and patterns of nature.

An anecdote from one of his students recounts how Klee suddenly stopped talking during a lesson, put down the chalk, and invited the class in silence to observe the shapes in the sky outside. He believed that inspiration was everywhere, even in the smallest details of everyday life.

Philosophy of Art: “The Line Has Me by the Hand”

Klee’s philosophy of art was closely linked to his personal vision of the world. He saw the artistic process as a collaboration between the artist and the materials. One of his best-known statements, “The line has me by the hand,” encapsulates his creative process. Klee believed that art was not something the artist fully controlled; it was a process of discovery, in which the artist was guided by the material and the moment.

In his work, one can see how he expressed this philosophy. He allowed lines and shapes to emerge almost naturally, without trying to dominate them rigidly. This gave his paintings a playful and unforced quality, as though the images unfolded on the canvas by themselves. Klee’s work often possesses an organic quality, as if it grows and breathes like a living being. His approach to art was intuitive, and he saw himself as a kind of explorer who, through lines, shapes, and colours, ventured into the hidden dimensions of reality.

Technique and Materials: A Master of Colour and Line

Klee experimented with various techniques and materials, from watercolour and gouache to oil paint and collage. His use of colour was revolutionary and subtle. He often created a layered effect by applying colours over each other, giving a sense of depth and texture. This technique was inspired by his studies in colour theory and his belief that colours had their own life.

In his diaries and lessons, Klee described colour as a force with its own energies and effects. He saw colour not as a static property but as something dynamic, capable of evoking emotions and even creating spaces. His works from the Bauhaus period, such as Fire in the Evening, reflect his fascination with colour and his ability to create fields of colour that are both vibrant and mysterious.

Klee’s use of line was as important as his colours. He described his lines as ‘moving’ and let them flow freely across his compositions. He used lines to give his works an organic feel, as if each line had a life of its own. In works like Twittering Machine, his use of line adds a sense of playfulness and humour, while simultaneously creating a surreal and mysterious atmosphere.

Influence of Music: The Rhythm of Colour and Form

Music played a central role in Klee’s life and work. He saw parallels between the composition of a piece of music and the structure of a painting. Just as music is a composition of notes and rhythms, Klee viewed his works as a composition of colours and lines that together formed a visual rhythm.

In Paul Klee: Painting Music, Hajo Düchting discusses how Klee's musical background enabled him to integrate rhythm, harmony, and tone into his work. Klee created works that seem to pulse and move, like a visual melody. One of his best-known works, Polyphony, embodies this idea: the lines and colours in the piece seem to move like musical notes in a melody.

Klee still played the violin regularly and often spoke about the similarity between music and painting. He believed that both art forms possessed the power to reveal the invisible and touch deeper layers of human experience. Music and painting were, to him, two sides of the same coin, both focused on conveying emotions and exploring the mystical and unseen.

Personal Life and Later Years: Illness and Inner Strength

Klee’s life changed dramatically when he fell ill in 1935. He was diagnosed with scleroderma, a severe autoimmune disease that affected his physical strength and mobility. Despite these physical limitations, he continued to work intensively. His later works grew darker and heavier, both in colour and theme. They often contained abstract symbols hinting at a confrontation with mortality and transience.

During this period, Klee developed a deeper sense of spirituality in his work. He saw himself as a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds. His paintings from these years, such as Death and Fire, are filled with symbols and intense colours that allude to the transition between life and death. His illness lent his work a new intensity and an acute awareness of time and mortality.

An anecdote from his final years recounts how Klee, despite his illness, went to his studio every day. His son Felix remembered how his father, sometimes too weak to stand, would sit determinedly at the table and continue to paint. For Klee, art was a means of survival, a way to express his inner world even as his physical world narrowed.

Legacy: The Inexhaustible Imagination of Klee

Paul Klee left an indelible legacy in the world of art. His work continues to inspire artists and art lovers with its unique combination of playfulness, philosophical depth, and mystical symbolism. Klee’s work invites the viewer to see the world through the eyes of an artist who dissects and reshapes reality.

His lessons at the Bauhaus, his experimental techniques, and his philosophical approach to art profoundly impacted modern art. Klee remains an icon for anyone who believes in the power of imagination and intuition. His work is a lasting reminder of the magic that arises when art, colour, and line come together to explore the deepest layers of the human soul.

Sources:

1. "Paul Klee: His Life and Work" by Werner Haftmann

2. "Paul Klee: Selected by Genius" by Otto Karl Werckmeister

3. "The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918"

4. "Paul Klee: The Thinking Eye" by Jürg Spiller

5. "Paul Klee: Painting Music" by Hajo Düchting

6. "Paul Klee: Bauhaus Master" by Boris Friedewald