Inscription: Signed (lower left): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard: 1931 K 8 Scene B aus Kairuan (nach Zeichng. v. 1914)
the artist (1931–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; his estate 1947–48; sold in 1948 to Guggenheim]; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1948–79; on long term loan to various U. S. institutions, 1953–61; sold on March 30, 1979 to Sabarsky); [Serge Sabarsky, New York, 1979]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1979–84; his gift to MMA)
Kunsthalle Bern. "Gedächtnisausstellung Paul Klee," November 9–December 8, 1940, no. 232 (as "Szene B. aus Kairouan").
New York. Nierendorf Gallery. "A Comprehensive Exhibition of Works by Paul Klee from the Estate of the Artist," October 1947, no. 12.
Lynchburg, Va. Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College. "Eleven Modern Paintings," October 22–November 26, 1953.
New York. Serge Sabarsky Gallery. "Paul Klee. The Late Years 1930–1940," fall 1977, no. 8 (as "Scene B aus Kairuan [nach Zeichnung v. 1914] (Scene B from Kairouan [After a Drawing of 1914]").
Tokyo. Fuji Television Gallery Co. Ltd. "Paul Klee," September 26–October 20, 1978, no. 24 (as "Szene B aus Kairuan").
Osaka. Gallery Kasahara. "Paul Klee," November 12–30, 1979, no. 13 (as "Szene B aus Kairuan [nach Zeichnung v. 1914]").
Tokyo. Fuji Television Gallery. "Exhibition of Paul Klee," October 23–November 21, 1981, no. 26 (as "Szene B aus Kairuan [Scene B of Kairouan]").
Osaka. Gallery Kasahara. "Exhibition of Paul Klee," November 27–December 12, 1981, no catalogue.
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. 236).
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. 247).
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. 247).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Cities," June 22–September 5, 1999, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee the Voyager," February 4–May 4, 2003, no catalogue.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons. "Le génie de l'Orient, l'Europe moderne et les arts de l'Islam," April 2–July 4, 2011, no. 207 (as "Épisode B à Kairouan [d'après un dessin de 1914]," listed erroneously as lent by the Musée Berggruen, Berlin).
Bern. Zentrum Paul Klee. "Paul Klee, August Macke, Louis Moilliet: The Journey to Tunisia," March 14–June 22, 2014, no. 89 (as "Scene B from Kairouan [after a Drawing of 1914]").
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 16, 2018–March 17, 2019, no catalogue.
Jürgen Glaesemer. Paul Klee. Die farbigen Werke im Kunstmuseum Bern: Gemälde, farbige Blätter, Hinterglasbilder und Plastiken. Bern, 1976, p. 32 n. 97.
Haruo Arikawa inExhibition of Paul Klee. Exh. cat., Fuji Television Gallery. Tokyo, 1981, pp. 71–72, no. 26, ill. p. 61.
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, ed. Die Tunisreise: Klee, Macke, Moilliet. Exh. cat., Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte. Münster, 1982, ill. p. 95.
Margareta Benz-Zauner. Werkanalytische Untersuchungen zu den Tunesien-Aquarellen Paul Klees. Frankfurt, 1984, p. 181.
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. 108, 236–37, 287, 318, ill. (color and bw), notes that this work was adapted in mirror-image, but not copied, from Klee's 1914 sketch "Woman with Child and Small Group of People" (private collection, Germany; Helfenstein and Rümelin 2000, no. 1138), executed during his trip to the ancient city of Kairouan in Tunisia [see also MMA 1984.315.17, 1987.455.14]; adds that also in 1931, Klee executed another drawing after one made in Kairouan, this one entitled "Scene A at Kairouan (After a Drawing of 1914)" (Satani Gallery, Tokyo; Helfenstein and Rümelin 2002, no. 5432).
Stefan Frey inPaul Klee: Reisen in den Süden. "Reisefieber praecisiert". Ed. Uta Gerlach-Laxner and Ellen Schwinzer. Exh. cat., Gustav-Lübcke Museum, Hamm. Ostfildern, 1997, p. 247.
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. 164, under no. 2380.
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, p. 54, under no. 3146.
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 2, 1913–1918. New York, 2000, p. 128, under no. 1138.
Christian Rümelin inPaul Klee. Selected by Genius, 1917–1933. Ed. Roland Doschke. Exh. cat., Stadthalle Balingen. Munich, 2001, p. 217 n. 46, as "Scene B from Kairouan (after a Drawing from 1914)".
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 6, 1931–1933. New York, 2002, p. 49, no. 5433, ill., calls it "Scene B aus Kairuan (nach Zeichng. v. 1914) [Scene B from Kairouan (After a Drawing of 1914)]".
Rémi Labrusse. Islamophilies: L'Europe moderne et les arts de l'Islam. Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons. Paris, 2011, pp. 292, 393, no. 207, ill. p. 308 (color).
Wolfgang Kersten inPaul Klee: Art in the Making 1883–1940. Ed. Wolfgang Kersten, Yūko Ikeda, and Kenjin Miwa. Exh. cat., National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. Kyoto, 2011, p. 53.
Michael Baumgartner inThe EY Exhibition—Paul Klee: Making Visible. Exh. cat., Tate Modern. London, 2013, p. 243 n. 13, calls it "Scene B from Kairouan (after a drawing of 1914)"
.
Michael Baumgartner inThe Journey to Tunisia, 1914: Paul Klee, August Macke, Louis Moilliet. Ed. Zentrum Paul Klee. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Ostfildern, 2014, pp. 117, 323, no. 89, ill. p. 132 (color), states that it was based on the oil transfer version[s] of the original 1914 drawing [see Ref. Rewald 1988; MMA nos. 1984.315.17, 1987.455.14].
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.
