Inscription: Signed (lower center): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower center): 1920/147 Liebes Paar
[Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Munich, from 1920 or 1921]; Baron Joseph Berchtold Urvater, Brussels (by 1957–65; sold on January 26, 1965 to Rosengart); [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, 1965–71; stock no. 3278; sold in 1971 to Hahn]; [Stephen Hahn, New York, from 1971]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1975–87; his gift to MMA)
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. "Paul Klee. Hans Mattis Teutsch. Gesamtschau," July–August 1921, no. 15.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Paul Klee," February 8–March 25, 1957, no. 28 (as "Minnend paar," lent by J. B. Urvater, Brussels).
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. "Paul Klee," March 29–May 12, 1957, no. 28 (as "Les amoureux," lent by J. B. Urvater, Brussels).
Otterlo. Kröller-Müller Museum. "De Grote Belgische Verzameligen. Verzamelig Urvater," June 29–September 2, 1957, no. 58.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Liège. "Les Grandes Collections Belges. Collection Urvater," October 5–November 11, 1957, no. 58.
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery. "Paintings from the Urvater Collection," September 13–October 4, 1958, no. 42.
City of York Art Gallery. "Paintings from the Urvater Collection," October 11–November 1, 1958, no. 42.
London. Tate Gallery. "Paintings from the Urvater Collection," November 12–December 14,1958, no. 42.
Belgrade. Art Pavilion. "Nadrealisti i apstraktni. Zbirka Urvater," April 7–21, 1959.
Zagreb. Moderna Galerija, Zagreb. "Nadrealisti i apstraktni. Zbirka Urvater," April 29–May 14, 1959.
Essen. Museum Folkwang. "Paul Klee. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen," August 22–October 12, 1969, no. 47 (lent by the Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne).
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne. "Paul Klee," November 25, 1969–February 16, 1970, no. 42 (as "Couple d'amants," lent by the Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne).
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. 116).
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. 117).
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. 117).
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. 18.
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. "Couples," December 16, 1994–June 4, 1995, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee in Munich," January 12–July 21, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Figures and Faces," August 23–November 16, 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. 7.
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 Creatures," December 12, 2003–March 14, 2004, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee: Path to Abstraction," April 9–August 4, 2013, 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.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 16, 2018–March 17, 2019, no catalogue.
James Smith Pierce. Paul Klee and Primitive Art. PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. New York, 1976, pp. 43, 47, finds similarities between the horizontal bands of color in this picture and African painted masks which Klee may have seen in German collections, adding that the resemblance may be purely coincidental.
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. 116–17, 276, 317, ill. (color and bw), notes that it is recorded in Klee's oeuvre catalogue as "Liebespaar, erotisches Aquarell monumentalen Stils (Lovers, Erotic Watercolor in Monumental Style)".
John Russell. "Playful Images Rich in Riddles by Paul Klee at the Met." New York Times (May 6, 1988), p. C30.
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. 226, no. 2492, ill., as "Liebes-Paar (Pair of Lovers)".
Emile Langui inUrvater: Histoire d'une collection. Oostkamp, Belgium, 2013, ill. p. 102 (color).
Marie Kakinuma in Wolfgang Kersten Osamu Okuda and Marie Kakinuma. Paul Klee—Sonderklasse, unverkäuflich. Exh. cat., Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Cologne, 2015, p. 194.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
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