Not surprisingly, the works Klee painted during his tenure at the Bauhaus, from 1921 to 1931, often relate to the subjects of his courses. His so-called color-gradation pictures from 1921 to 1923 correspond to his preoccupation with color theory at that time. In this watercolor, he chose to work with what he called "false color pairs," that is, such secondary colors as green and orange, orange and violet, and violet and green. When mixed in equal parts, these pairs turn into a bluish gray.
Inscription: Signed (upper right): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower left): 1922/59 / S.Kl.; (lower right): Drei Häuser
the artist (1922–d. 1940); his widow, Lily Klee, Bern (1940–46); Paul Klee Society, later Paul Klee Foundation, Bern (1946–50; on consignment 1949–50 to Rosengart); [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, 1950; stock no. 5222]; [J. B. Neumann, New York, 1950]; [Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, 1950; sold in 1950 to Schang]; Frederick C. Schang, South Norwalk, Conn. and New York (1950–at least 1959); Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1963–84; his gift to MMA)
Berlin. Kronprinzenpalais, Nationalgalerie. "Paul Klee," February 1923, no catalogue.
Munich. Hans Goltz. "Paul Klee: 2. Gesamtausstellung 1920/1925," May–June 1925, no. 61 (lent by a private collection).
Kunsthalle Bern. "Ausstellung [Der grosse Bär, Paul Klee, Paul Eichenberger, Dora Lauterburg, G. Lüscher, Robert Schmitz]," November 8–29, 1925, no. 105 (not for sale).
Palm Beach, Fla. Society of the 4 Arts. "Paintings by Paul Klee, 1879–1940," March 9–April 1, 1951, no. 20 (lent by Mr. F. C. Schang).
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "40 Works by Paul Klee from the Collection of F. C. Schang," June 5–August 31, 1955, no. 7.
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Paul Klee," August 11–November 4, 1956, no. 470 (lent by Mr. F. C. Schang, New York City).
Paris. Berggruen et Cie. "Paul Klee. Les années 20," May–July 1971, no. 17.
Nationalgalerie Berlin. Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz. "Hommage à Schönberg. Der Blaue Reiter und das Musikalische in der Malerei der Zeit," September 11–November 4, 1974, no. 55 (lent by the Berggruen Collection, Paris).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 43).
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
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. 162).
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. 165).
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. 165).
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. 34.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: His Teaching Years," opened April 12, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee and Friends," June 8–November 26, 1995, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee at the Bauhaus," April 18–August 17, 1997, 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. 23.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Cities," June 22–September 5, 1999, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee's Best," May 24–September 22, 2002, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cityscapes by Klee and Feininger," September 25, 2002–January 26, 2003, 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.
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.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical," July 21–October 8, 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.
Paul Klee. Collection of F. C. Schang. South Norwalk, Conn., n. d., unpaginated brochure, no. 10.
Paul Klee: Collection of F. C. Schang, South Norwalk, Connecticut. South Norwalk, Conn., January 1, 1952, unpaginated brochure, no. 9.
Paul Klee. Collection of F. C. Schang. South Norwalk, Conn., June 1, 1953, unpaginated brochure, no. 17.
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, January 1, 1955, unpaginated brochure, no. 13.
Gualtieri di San Lazzaro. Klee: A Study of His Life and Work. New York, 1957, p. 290, no. 42, ill. p. 265, as in the collection of F. C. Schang, New York.
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, April 1, 1957, unpaginated brochure, no. 15.
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, April 1, 1959, unpaginated brochure, no. 13.
Jürg Spiller, ed. Paul Klee: The Thinking Eye. The Notebooks of Paul Klee. New York, 1961, p. 483 n. 1 [German ed., Basel, 1956], lists it as an example of Klee's "false color" pairs or combinations of secondary colors.
Felix Klee. Paul Klee par lui-même et par son fils Felix Klee. Ed. Bernard Gheerbrant. Enl. ed. (1st ed., German, 1960; 2nd ed., English, 1962). Paris, 1963, ill. between pp. 40 and 43 [not in German or English eds.], locates it in the collection Berggruen.
Felix Klee. Paul Klee: 12 aquarelles. Paris, 1964, unpaginated, colorpl. 9.
Jean-Louis Ferrier. Paul Klee: Les années 20. Paris, 1971, ill. pp. 58–59 and n. p. (color and bw).
Christian Geelhaar. Paul Klee and the Bauhaus. Bath, 1973, p. 36.
Sara Lynn Henry. "Paul Klee, Nature, and Modern Science, the 1920s." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1976, p. 108, fig. 182, as in an unknown collection.
Eva-Maria Triska. "Die Quadratbilder Paul Klees—ein Beitrag zur Analyse formaler Ausdrucksmittel in seinem Werk und seiner Theorie. Mit einem Exkurs zur Ableitung von Klees Farbenlehre." PhD diss., Universität Wien, 1980, p. 186 n. 24.
Kay Vernon in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 41, ill. p. 43 (color), comments that the false color pairs [see Ref. Spiller 1961] can also be seen as "symbolic landscapes".
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. 162–63, 280, 318, ill. (color and bw).
Jane Norrie. "Paul Klee." Arts Review 41 (June 2, 1989), p. 439.
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, p. 381, no. 2883, ill.
Wolfgang Kersten, Osamu Okuda, and Marie Kakinuma. Paul Klee—Sonderklasse unverkäuflich. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Cologne, 2015, colorpl. 34 (no. 8).
Wolfgang Kersten in Wolfgang Kersten Osamu Okuda and Marie Kakinuma. Paul Klee—Sonderklasse unverkäuflich. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Cologne, 2015, p. 255, no. 81, ill. (color).
Stefan Frey in Wolfgang Kersten Osamu Okuda and Marie Kakinuma. Paul Klee—Sonderklasse, unverkäuflich. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Cologne, 2015, p. 528, no. 81.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1929
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
