This work provides a lesson in one's susceptibility to Klee's evocative titles. The artist copied the image of this watercolor from a smaller pencil drawing, which he called "Theater of Masks." Thus one looks for masks—albeit abstract ones—in the drawing. But in the watercolor, these same three sprightly forms might represent as well the abstract sound patterns of three voices or three instruments. An accomplished violinist himself, music played a great role in Klee's life. His favorite composers were Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. His passion for music is reflected in the titles of some of his works. According to his son Felix, of the 9,146 works Klee recorded in his oeuvre catalogue, more than 500 refer to the theater, masks, or music.
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Inscription: Signed (upper right): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (center): 1923.88. Abstractes Terzett; (lower left): VII
the artist, Weimar and Dessau (1923–28); [Galerie Neue Kunst Fides (Rudolf Probst), Dresden, 1928–30]; [Galerie Alfred Flechtheim, Düsseldorf and Berlin, 1930]; [J. B. Neumann, New York, 1930; sold to Barr]; Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., New York (1930–80); [E. V. Thaw & Co., New York, ca. 1980–81; sold in February 1981 to Berggruen]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1981–84; his gift to MMA)
Kunsthalle Basel. "Bauhaus Dessau: J. Albers, L. Feininger, W. Kandinsky, P. Klee, O. Schlemmer," April 20–May 9, 1929, no. 123 (listed for sale for mk 1,000).
Berlin. Galerie Ferdinand Möller. "Das Geistige in der Kunst," October 1929, no. 118.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Paul Klee," March 13–April 2, 1930, no. 3 (lent by the artist through Flechtheim and Neumann).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Modern European Art," October 3–27, 1933, no catalogue.
New York. New Art Circle Gallery, J. B. Neumann. "Paul Klee," March 18–April 6, 1935 [see Ref. Art Digest 1935].
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Cubism and Abstract Art," March 2–April 19, 1936, no. 109 (lent by a private collection, New York).
New York. Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin) and Willard Gallery. "Paul Klee," October 9–November 2, 1940, no. 33 (lent by a private collection, New York).
Northhampton, Mass. Smith College Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," January 7–22, 1941, no catalogue.
Arts Club of Chicago. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," January 31–February 28, 1941, no. 21 (lent anonymously).
Portland, Ore. Portland Art Museum. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," March 10–April 9, 1941, no catalogue.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," April 14–May 5, 1941.
Los Angeles. Stendahl Art Galleries. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," May 8–18, 1941.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," May 24–June 21, 1941, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Paul Klee," June 30–July 27, 1941, no. 21 (lent anonymously).
Wellesley, Mass. Wellesley College. "Paul Klee: Memorial Exhibition," October 14–November 2, 1941, no catalogue.
Philadelphia Art Alliance. "Paul Klee: Paintings, Drawings, Prints," March 14–April 9, 1944, no. 14 (lent by a private collection, New York).
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. 176).
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. 181).
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. 181).
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. 39.
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. "Klee Abstract," September 5–December 7, 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. Neue Galerie. "Klee and America," March 10–May 22, 2006, unnumbered cat. (pl. 22).
Washington. Phillips Collection. "Klee and America," June 16–September 10, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Houston. Menil Collection. "Klee and America," October 6, 2006–January 14, 2007, unnumbered cat.
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.
Jerome Klein. "The Line of Introversion." New Freeman 1, no. 4 (April 5, 1930), p. 89.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Paul Klee. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1930, pp. 10, 13, no. 3, ill.
"Sincerity, Incredible Fantasy, in Klee's Art." Art Digest 9 (March 15, 1935), p. 13, ill, notes that J. B. Neumann's upcoming exhibition [New York 1935] is devoted to Klee watercolors and quotes from the exhibition catalogue.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. inCubism and Abstract Art. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1936, pp. 180, 212, no. 109, fig. 198.
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: A Memorial to Paul Klee." New Yorker 16 (October 12, 1940), p. 94.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. inPaul Klee. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1941, pp. 6, 9, no. 21.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. "Introduction." Paul Klee. Ed. Margaret Miller. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1941). New York, 1945, p. 7, ill. p. 34, as in a private collection.
Will Grohmann. Paul Klee. New York, [1954], p. 87.
Will Grohmann. Paul Klee: Drawings. New York, 1960, p. 14 [German ed., Cologne, 1959].
Christina Kröll. "Die Bildtitel Paul Klees: Eine Studie zur Beziehung von Bild und Sprache in der Kunst des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts." PhD diss., Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, 1968, p. 32.
Stefan Frey and Wolfgang Kersten inAlfred Flechtheim: Sammler. Kunsthändler. Verleger. 1937. Europa vor dem 2.Weltkrieg. Ed. Stephan von Wiese and Monika Flacke-Knoch. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf, 1987, p. 82 n. 184, erroneously state that Flechtheim sold this picture through Neumann to the Gallery of Living Art.
Carolyn Lanchner inPaul Klee. Ed. Carolyn Lanchner. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1987, pp. 99, 110 n. 92, fig. 16, asserts that this picture was included in J. B. Neumann's 1935 Klee exhibition [Exh. New York 1935]; finds parallels between it and an untitled watercolor by Rothko (1944; Mark Rothko Estate).
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. 176–77, 281, 318, ill. (color and bw), notes that it was based on a pencil drawing called "Theater of Masks" (1922; present location unknown; HR 2987), adding that the trio in the watercolor may refer to musical sounds, instruments, or performers.
Christiane Dessauer-Reiners. Das Rhythmische bei Paul Klee. Eine Studie zum genetischen Bildverfahren. Worms, 1996, pp. 79, 158 n 1, p. 206, fig. 18.
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 4, 1923–1926. New York, 2000, pp. 90, 440, no. 3181, ill.
Vivian Endicott Barnett inKlee and America. Ed. Josef Helfenstein and Elizabeth Hutton Turner. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie, New York. Houston, 2006, p. 38, notes that Barr purchased it from Neumann in 1930.
Josef Helfenstein inKlee and America. Ed. Josef Helfenstein and Elizabeth Hutton Turner. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie, New York. Houston, 2006, p. 144.
Osamu Okuda inKlee and America. Ed. Josef Helfenstein and Elizabeth Hutton Turner. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie, New York. Houston, 2006, p. 299, colorpl. 22.
Elizabeth Hutton Turner inKlee and America. Ed. Josef Helfenstein and Elizabeth Hutton Turner. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie, New York. Houston, 2006, p. 227.
Olivier Berggruen et al. Enchanted Reverie: Klee and Calder. Exh. cat., Di Donna. New York, 2024, p. 36, fig. 27 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1936).
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1920
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