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One Who Understands

Paul Klee German, born Switzerland
1934
Not on view
The squared circle of the abstracted head in Klee's painting is made of the same lines that divide the picture like a cracked windowpane. Klee taught at the Bauhaus—first in Weimar and then in Dessau—between 1921 and 1931 and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf from 1931 to 1933. Hitler's National Socialists declared his work "degenerate" and fired him in 1933.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: One Who Understands
  • Artist: Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
  • Date: 1934
  • Medium: Oil and gypsum on canvas
  • Dimensions: 21 1/4 × 16 1/8 in. (54 × 41 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998
  • Object Number: 1999.363.31
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Ass (Esel), Paul Klee German, born Switzerland, Lithograph
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Paul Klee
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Bird Comedy (Vogelkomödie), Paul Klee German, born Switzerland, Lithograph
Bird Comedy (Vogelkomödie)
Paul Klee
Franz Seraph Hanfstaengl
1918
The Bauhaus Portfolio: New European Graphics III
Paul Klee
1921
The Saint of the Inner Light (Die Helige vom inner Licht), Paul Klee German, born Switzerland, Lithograph with brown background
The Saint of the Inner Light (Die Helige vom inner Licht)
Paul Klee
1921
Hoffmannesque Scene (Hofmanneske Szene), Paul Klee German, born Switzerland, Lithograph in gold, maroon, brown and black
Hoffmannesque Scene (Hofmanneske Szene)
Paul Klee
1921

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