Inscription: Signed (upper center): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower center): 1927 Oe.10. unter Wasser
Lily Klee, Bern (in 1940); ?[Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, possibly on consignment from Lily Klee in 1944]; Werner Allenbach, Bern (until 1964; sold in 1964 to Beyeler); [Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1964–65; sold in 1965 to Stangl]; [Moderne Galerie Otto Stangl, Munich, 1965; sold in 1965 to Fischer]; Ernst O. Fischer, Krefeld (1965–81; sale, Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, June 26, 1981, no. 109, sold to Berggruen); Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1981–84; his gift to MMA)
Kunsthalle Bern. "Gedächtnisausstellung Paul Klee," November 9–December 8, 1940, no. 228.
Philadelphia Art Alliance. "Paul Klee: Paintings, Drawings, Prints," March 14–April 9, 1944, no. 49 (as "Deep Sea Flowers," gouache, lent by Buchholz Gallery, New York).
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. "Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts aus rheinisch-westfälischem Privatbesitz," April 30–June 18, 1967, no. 180 (lent by Ernst Fischer, Krefeld).
Frankfurter Kunstverein. "Aus dem Traumbuch der Maler: Phantasie und Vision. Zeichnungen und Aquarelle," August 10–September 29, 1968, no. 49 (as "[Flora] unter Wasser," lent by Ernst Fischer, Krefeld).
Cologne. Kunsthalle. "Paul Klee. Das Werk der Jahre 1919–1933. Gemälde, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik," April 11–June 4, 1979, no. 221 (as "[Flora] unter Wasser," lent by Ernst O. E. Fischer, Krefeld).
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. 218).
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. 229).
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. 229).
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. 53.
Haus der Kunst München. "Elan vital oder Das Auge des Eros," May 20–August 14, 1994, no. 344.
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's Line," March 18–July 9, 2000, no catalogue.
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 the Voyager," February 4–May 4, 2003, 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.
Will Grohmann. Paul Klee: Handzeichungen 1921–1930. Potsdam, 1934, p. 24, no. 193, as "Flora, unter Wasser".
Max Huggler. Paul Klee. Die Malerei als Blick in den Kosmos. Frauenfeld, 1969, p. 103.
Jürg Spiller, ed. Paul Klee. Notebooks, Volume 2: The Nature of Nature. New York, 1973, p. 421, ill. p. 134, erroneously locates it still in the Galerie Beyeler, Basel.
Sadao Wada. Paul Klee and His Travels. Exh. cat.Tokyo, 1980, fig. 290, calls it "Under the Water".
Jürgen Glaesemer. Paul Klee. Handzeichnungen. Vol. 2, 1921–1936. Bern, 1984, p. 107 n. 61, as "Flora unter Wasser".
Richard Verdi. Klee and Nature. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1984). New York, 1985, p. 74, fig. 65, calls it "Underwater" and erroneously locates it in the San Francisco Museum of Art; relates the plants and organisms depicted in this work to those seen during Klee's daily swims during the summer of 1927 when he vacationed on the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles.
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. 218–19, 285, 318, ill. (color and bw), notes that it belongs to a group of fourteen ink drawings executed after Klee's return from Porquerolles.
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 5, 1927–1930. New York, 2001, p. 155, no. 4494, ill.
Vivian Endicott Barnett. The Blue Four Collection at the Norton Simon Museum. [Pasadena], 2002, p. 319.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1920
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.
