The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918

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Quote (1908), # 840, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1964 Quote (1912), # 931, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1964 At the Bauhaus, Klee took over the workshop for gold, silver and coppersmiths in 1922 and also the workshop for glass painting from the second half of the year - Wassily Kandinsky followed him to the Bauhaus on July 1, 1922. In February 1923, the National Gallery in Berlin held the second largest solo exhibition of the artist's works to date in the Kronprinzenpalais with 270 works. After the Bauhaus restructured itself by taking on László Moholy-Nagy for the so-called "Vorkurs" (basic training) in 1923, Paul Klee's lessons in "Formlehre" became an integral part of this basic training, and he also took over the workshop for weaving. In Weimar, Paul Klee initially lived in a boarding house at Am Horn 39; in the same year, 1921, he moved into a rented apartment at Am Horn 53.

Alfred Kubin, my benefactor, has arrived! He acted so enthusiastic that he carried me away. We actually sat entranced in front of my drawings! Really quite entranced! Profoundly entranced! After marrying in 1906 and moving to Munich, Paul Klee was active not only as an artist but also as a journalist. From November 1911 to December 1912, for example, he wrote articles on Munich's art and music life for the Bernese magazine Die Alpen. In the August issue of 1912, Klee published a report on the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich, which ran from July 7 to July 31 and featured works by the "Modern League," an association of Swiss artists founded by Hans Arp, Walter Helbig, and Oscar Lüthi, along with works by the Blaue Reiter. Klee uses the term Expressionism in his report, but differently than his contemporaries did. For Klee, Expressionism had not only advanced artistic development, but had truly opened up new territory for artistic possibilities in the sense of an "expanded field of art." An example of Klee’s interest in combining visual and musical harmony is Fugue in Red (1921) ; Paul Klee, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons I can dimly recollect Kandinsky and Weisgerber, who were fellow students of mine.. .Kandinsky was quiet and mixed the colours on his palette with the greatest diligence and, so it seemed to me, with a kind of studiousness, peering very closely at what he was doing.During a six-month study trip from October 22, 1901 to May 2. May 1902 with the sculptor Hermann Haller to Italy, which led via Milan, Genoa, Livorno, Pisa, Rome, Porto d'Anzio, Naples, Pompei, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Gargano and Florence, three experiences became decisive for his artistic expression, "firstly the Renaissance architecture in Florence, the palaces of the churches that make the city of the Medici a total work of art, their constructive element, the structural numerical secrets, the proportions"; secondly, Klee had experienced for the first time in the aquarium of Naples "the imagination and fantasy of natural forms, their colorfulness, the fairytale-like nature of marine fauna and flora"; and thirdly, "the playful sensitivity of the Gothic panel paintings of Siena".

In March 1912, Paul Klee completed the illustration of the novel Candide, which was published in 1920 under the title Kandide oder die Beste Welt. Eine Erzählung von Voltaire with 26 illustrations by the artist was published by Kurt Wolff. Garden in St. Germain, The European Quarter Near Tunis (1914); Paul Klee, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons A tendency toward the abstract is inherent in linear expression: graphic imagery being confined to outlines has a fairy-like quality and at the same time can achieve great precision.After his graduation, Klee moved to Italy with the Swiss sculptor Hermann Haller, where the two embarked on an adventure of study of the classical masters. During his trip, he developed a different stance towards color and viewed it as a means of escape from pessimism. Klee verstarb kurz vor der Entscheidung über seine beantragte Schweizer Staatsbürgerschaft, vgl. Ein Berner, aber kein Schweizer Künstler, swissinfo.ch, 21. April 2005, abgerufen am 15. April 2011. Graphic art plays a special role in Paul Klee's oeuvre, as more than half of the total works in the œuvre catalog are graphic works. Klee can thus be considered one of the most important graphic artists of the early 20th century. My etchings have.. ..the mistake of being processed as images and to have at the same time the meaning of epigrams. It is the union of pure painting with pure graphics.. .From now onwards my task will be the division of art and graphics, and the full development of both fields. The pure art has already turned to impressionism and the graphics is going to do it. After his return from Italy in 1902, Klee lived in his parents' house until 1906 and earned his living as a violinist with the Bernese Music Society, at whose subscription concerts he also acted as a reviewer and substitute, and continued his artistic training by attending anatomical lectures and an anatomical course. In 1903 he produced the first of ten etchings created until 1905, which are grouped in the cycle Inventionen. In 1904 Klee studied the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley, William Blake and Francisco de Goya at the Kupferstichkabinett in Munich, which, like the graphic work of James Ensor, made a lasting impression on him during this period.