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Artwork Details
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Title:Tomcat's Turf
Artist:Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
Date:1919
Medium:Watercolor, gouache, and oil on gesso on two sections of fabric mounted on cardboard
Dimensions:12 1/2 × 9 1/4 in. (31.8 × 23.5 cm)
Classifications:Paintings, Drawings
Credit Line:The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984
Object Number:1984.315.15
Inscription: Signed (lower section, upper right): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower left): 1919.49
the artist (1919–20; sold in May–June 1920 to Goltz); [Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Munich, from 1920]; [Motomachi Gallery, Kobe]; Ryotaro Hirayama, Kyoto (by 1950–at least 1962; on consignment to Fujikawa Galleries, Osaka, September 23–December 5, 1955 and October 24–December 30, 1959); sale, Christie's, London, December 1, 1981, no. 363, bought in; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1981–84; his gift to MMA)
Munich. Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz. "Paul Klee," May–June 1920, no. 200 (as for sale) [catalogue published in "Der Ararat" 2, May–June 1920, p. 23].
Tokyo. Bridgestone Museum of Art. "Exhibition of Paul Klee's Paintings and Prints," October 1–November 2, 1958, no. 6 (as "Morning and Evening," lent by a private collection, courtesy of Fujikawa Galleries).
Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura. "Paul Klee from Private Collections in Japan," September 23–October 28, 1962, no. 6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Klee Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 6–July 31, 1988, unnumbered cat. (p. 87).
Kunsthalle Tübingen. "Paul Klee: Die Sammlung Berggruen im Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York und im Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris," January 22–April 16, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 85).
London. Tate Gallery. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris," May 17–August 13, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 85).
Mexico City. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo. "Paul Klee: Selección de sesenta obras. The Berggruen Klee Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1989–January 1990, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Humor of Klee," May 14 or 15–October 4, 1992, no catalogue.
Munich. Lenbachhaus. "Süddeutsche Freiheit: Kunst der Revolution in München 1919," November 10, 1993–January 9, 1994, no. 133.
Munich. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. "Mit dem Auge des Kindes—Kinderzeichnung und moderne Kunst," May 31–August 20, 1995, no. 4.23.
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Mit dem Auge des Kindes—Kinderzeichnung und moderne Kunst," September 7–November 26, 1995, no. 4.23.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee in Munich," January 12–July 21, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 20, 1997–February 8, 1998, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Creatures," December 12, 2003–March 14, 2004, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 1, 2005–March 5, 2006, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Humor and Fantasy: The Berggruen Paul Klee Collection," September 1, 2016–January 2, 2017, no catalogue.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 16, 2018–March 17, 2019, no catalogue.
Ryotaro Hirayama. "Painting and I." Bungeishunju 39, no. 6 (1961), pp. 52–53, states that he began collecting modern art in 1947 and that his collection contains one work by Klee; recounts that Isamu Noguchi visited him in Kyoto [in 1950] and was surprised to see the Klee, saying "'it is incredible that a stockbroker has an original Paul Klee'".
Sabine Rewald. Paul Klee: The Berggruen Klee Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1988, pp. 86–89, 274, 317, ill. pp. 86 (reconstruction), 87 (color), 89 (color detail), 274, notes that Klee cut this work and rearranged the composition, switching the top and bottom; surmises that the letter "F" in the upper left corner of this picture stands for Klee's cat, Fritzi.
John Russell. "Playful Images Rich in Riddles by Paul Klee at the Met." New York Times (May 6, 1988), p. C1.
Marianne Vogel. Zwischen Wort und Bild. Das schriftliche Werk Paul Klees und die Rolle der Sprache in seinem Denken und in seiner Kunst. Munich, 1992, pp. 128, 131, 165, 197, no. 93, pl. 8, notes that the "F" and "B" in this picture stand for Klee's cats, Fripouille (Fripp) and Bobeli.
Justin Hoffmann. Süddeutsche Freiheit: Kunst der Revolution in München 1919. Ed. Helmut Friedel. Exh. cat., Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. Munich, 1993, p. 208, no. 133, ill. (color).
Wolfgang Kersten and Osamu Okuda. Paul Klee. Im Zeichen der Teilung. Exh. cat., Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen. Düsseldorf, 1995, ill. p. 336, reproduce its original format with the cat in the upper portion of the composition and the landscape with the mouse adjacent to another composition called "Similar to 49" (private collection, Switzerland/Austria; HR 1999, no. 2113).
Jonathan Fineberg inMit dem Auge des Kindes—Kinderzeichnung und moderner Kunst. Ed. Helmut Friedel and Josef Helfenstein. Exh. cat., Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. Munich, 1995, pp. 100, 243, no. 4.23, ill. p. 103 (color).
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 3, 1919–1922. New York, 1999, pp. 52–53, no. 2112, ill., as "Revier eines Katers (Tomcat's Hunting Ground)".
Marcella Sirhandi. "Mohan Samant (1924–2004). Part I. Biography. Part II: Styles and Techniques, Themes and Subjects." Mohan Samant: Paintings. Ahmedabad, 2013, p. 274, fig. 154 (color).
Paul Klee was unrivaled among his contemporaries in his wide-ranging experimentation with materials and unconventional techniques. Join scholar Charles W. Haxthausen as he explores the variety of Klee’s practice and reflects on its art-historical implications.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
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