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PAUL KLEE
Swiss painter and sculptor
(see also p.31). Klee painted,
drew, philosophized, and wrote
copiously about the natures
and relationships of color
and form. He explained his
polyphonic painting as "a
harmony of several color
voices" searching for a visual
parallel to music.
Geometric harmony This is a
work on paper made with a
sharp ink pen, ruler, watercolor,
and brush. It is a geometric
harmony of straight lines and
tonally graded flat colors that
by their arrangement draw our
eyes inward to their white center.
Line and surface Klee observed
the visual capacity of lines to push
or pull within an image. We can
see some diagrammatic examples
of this among the optical illusions
on pp.97-99. Klee also felt that
a line represents the passing of
time, whereas tonal surfaces are
perceived more immediately as
a whole, and might be read as
active or passive.
Polyphon Gefasstes Weiss
(White Framed Polyphonically)
1930
131/8x95/8in (333 x 245 mm)
Paul-Klee-Stiftung,
Kunstmuseum Bern
PAUL KLEE
