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May Picture

Paul Klee German, born Switzerland
1925
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 912
This painting is from Klee’s Magic Square series, which grew out of a visit to Tunisia in 1914. Klee embraced the full power of abstraction by fractioning the landscape into squares, which seem to extend beyond the edges of the painting. The squares themselves can be viewed as odd-shaped stones assembled to form a mosaic. The work also reveals Klee’s preoccupation with color theory, which informed his teaching at the Bauhaus.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: May Picture
  • Artist: Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
  • Date: 1925
  • Medium: Oil on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 16 5/8 × 19 1/2 in. (42.2 × 49.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984
  • Object Number: 1984.315.42
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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2050. May Picture

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