Inscription: Signed (lower left): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower center): 1921/28 Winterreise +
the artist (1921–d. 1940); his widow, Lily Klee, Bern (1940–46); Paul Klee Society, later Paul Klee Foundation, Bern (1946–47; sold in 1947 to Nierendorf); [Karl Nierendorf, New York, 1947]; Dr. and Mrs. Eric Ponder, New York (in 1951); Gustav Kahnweiler, London; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1962–84; his gift to MMA)
Palm Beach, Fla. Society of the 4 Arts. "Paintings by Paul Klee, 1879–1940," March 9–April 1, 1951, no. 17 (lent by Dr. and Mrs. Eric Ponder).
Paris. Berggruen et Cie. "Paul Klee. Les années 20," May–July 1971, no. 13.
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. 138).
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. 137).
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. 137).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Of Men and Women," opened March 27, 1990, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Humor of Klee," May 14 or 15–October 4, 1992, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Figures and Faces," August 23–November 16, 1997, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 20, 1997–February 8, 1998, no catalogue.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Sammlung Berggruen. "Klee aus New York: Hauptwerke der Sammlung Berggruen im Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 4–October 18, 1998, no. 14.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes by Klee and Kiefer," January 19–September 30, 2001, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Figures," October 5, 2001–March 10, 2002, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee the Voyager," February 4–May 4, 2003, 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: His Years at the Bauhaus (1921–1931)," November 19, 2004–April 3, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 1, 2005–March 5, 2006, no catalogue.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Das Universum Klee / The Klee Universe," October 31, 2008–February 8, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p. 331).
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.
Jürg Spiller. Paul Klee. New York, 1962, pp. 15, 87, ill. p. 26.
Felix Klee. Paul Klee: 12 aquarelles. Paris, 1964, unpaginated, colorpl. 7, relates this picture to the death of Klee's mother on March 15, 1921; recounts that on that day, hours before learning of her death, Klee dreamt that his mother entered the room, winked, and disappeared; as symbols of his mourning, Klee added a dark border around his pictures of early 1921, as seen in this work.
Jean-Louis Ferrier. Paul Klee: Les années 20. Paris, 1971, ill. p. 51 and n. p. (color and bw).
Sara Lynn Henry. "Paul Klee, Nature, and Modern Science, the 1920s." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1976, pp. 161–63, fig. 319, notes that the title of this work was derived from a cycle of songs by Franz Schubert, in turn based on poems by Wilhelm Müller; describes the winter journey in the songs as "one of bitter sadness, wrenching remorse, and longing for death"; surmises that the hooded figure beside the tombstone in this picture represents "the conjunction of life and death or even beyond that of matter and spirit".
Jürgen Glaesemer. Paul Klee. Handzeichnungen. Vol. 2, 1921–1936. Bern, 1984, ill. p. 13, as location unknown.
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. 138–39, 278, 317, ill. (color and bw), notes that in addition to the dark borders, Klee added a small cross next to the inscribed titles of six works, including this one, as a sign of mourning the death of his mother [see Ref. Klee 1964].
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. 268, 270, no. 2619, ill.
Janet I. Wasserman. "A Schubert Iconography: Painters, Sculptors, Lithographers, Illustrators, Silhouettists, Engravers, and Others Known or Said to Have Produced a Likeness of Franz Schubert." Music in Art 28 (Spring–Fall 2003), p. 238.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
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