Paul Klee

Otto Ralfs, Braunschweig (acquired from the artist)
Richard Doetsch-Benziger, Basel (a gift from the above on 24th December 1931)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired in 1967)
Acquired from the above on 23rd January 1968

Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Zeichnungen von Paul Klee aus der Sammlung Otto Ralfs, Braunschweig, 1930, no. 43
Kiel, Kunsthalle, Kandinsky, Klee, Rudolph, 1930
Hanover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Paul Klee. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Graphik 1903-1930, 1931
Basel, Kunsthalle, Moderne deutsche Malerei aus Privatbesitz, 1933, no. 91
Basel, Kunsthalle, Gedächtnisausstellung Paul Klee, 1941, no. 191
Basel, Galerie d'Art Moderne, Marie-Suzanne Feigel, Paul Klee. Tafelbilder und Aquarelle aus Privatbesitz, 1949, no. 22
Basel, Kunstmuseum, Katalog der Sammlung Richard Doetsch-Benziger, 1956, no. 167, illustrated in the catalogue

Margit Bosshard-Rebmann, Paul Klee (Sammlung Richard Doetsch-Benziger), Basel, 1953, no. 40, illustrated
Jürg Spiller, (ed.), Paul Klee. Unendliche Naturgeschichte. Prinzipielle Ordnung der bildnerischen Mittel verbunden mit Naturastudium, und konstruktive Kompositionswege. Form- und Gestaltungslehre, Basel & Stuttgart, 1970, vol. II, illustrated
Paul Klee Stiftung (ed.), Paul Klee Catalogue Raisonné 1923-1926, Bern, 2000, vol. IV, no. 3719, illustrated p. 298

Klee’s distinct and methodical approach to his compositions gained him a great following at the Bauhaus, where he lectured throughout the 1920s on the importance of inner vision and individual interpretation. He completed the present work in the midst of his tenure there in 1925, and it reveals his fascination with architecture - a subject that the school inspired in his paintings and drawings of this period. The complex beauty and draftsmanship of these compositions became the basis for his reputation as one of the great intellectual artists of the 20^th century. According to Andrew Kagan, “Klee’s greatness as a colorist and his gifts as a draftsman embrace a truly extraordinary range and diversity. His seemingly tireless experimentation and his astounding inventiveness are among his distinctive characteristics, but they make his mature work rather difficult to grasp and understand in its entirety. Klee may seem to be everywhere at once, with the most random approaches. It must be understood that his ultimate ambitions embraced the concept of an art that would resolve all apparent contradiction, an art that would reconcile all dualities and oppositions – in other words, an art of ultimate synthesis. 'Truth,' he declared, 'demands that all elements be present at once' " (Andrew Kagan, Paul Klee At The Guggenheim Museum (exhibition catalogue), Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York, 1993, pp. 26-27).