Paul Klee

Israel Ber Neumann, Berlin & New York
Clifford Odets, New York & Los Angeles
Frederick C. Schang, New York
Saidenberg Gallery, New York
Frederick Zimmermann, New York
Harold Diamond Inc., New York
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 12th November 1988, lot 161 
Stephen Mazoh & Co., Rhinebeck
Waddington Galleries Ltd., London (acquired in 1988)
Acquired from the above by the present owners circa 1990

Munich, Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Paul Klee, 1920, no. 165, illustrated in the catalogue
Jena, Kunst-Verein zu Jena, Paul Klee, 1920, no. 19
New York, Saidenberg Gallery, Paul Klee. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of his Birth, 1954, no. 4
Bern, Kunstmuseum, Paul Klee. Ausstellung in Verbindung mit der Paul-Klee-Stiftung, 1956, no. 414
Hamburg, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Paul Klee, 1956-57, no. 79
Chiba, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art; Sapporo, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art & Miyagi, The Miyagi Museum of Modern Art, Paul Klee: Erzählung und Schöpfung, 2006, no. 45, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
London, Timothy Taylor Gallery, Ballet Mécanique, 2007-08

Der Ararat, 'Paul Klee', in Zweites Sonderheft, May-July 1920, illustrated p. 7
Leopold Zahn, Paul Klee. Leben, Werk, Geist, Potsdam, 1920, illustrated p. 62
Frederick C. Schang, Paul Klee. Collection of F. C. Schang, South Norwalk, 1953, no. 8
Wolfgang Kersten, Paul Klee. 'Zerstorung, der Konstruktion zuliebe?', Marburg, 1987, pp. 143 & 151
Christine Hopfengart, Klee. Vom Sonderfall zum Publikumsliebing. Stationen seiner offentlichen Resonanz in Deutschland 1905-1960, Mainz, 1989, p. 41
Anna-Maria Ehrmann-Schindlbeck, Schmid & Joachim Verspohl, Paul Klee in Jena 1924 (exhibition catalogue), Jena, 1999, p. 148
Paul Klee Stiftung (ed.), Paul Klee, Catalogue Raisonné 1913-1918, Bern, 2000, vol. II, no. 1915, illustrated p. 481

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down on the artist's mount. The work is on two pieces of paper, intrinsic to the artist's process. There are some small retouchings on the join between the two pieces of paper, possibly by the artist. There is a small loss to the surface of the medium in the centre of lower sheet. Apart from some small medium rubbing to the foot of the work, some slight staining to the original mount and time-staining to all four edges, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate although deeper and richer in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Barbarische Komposition is a vibrant example of the mysterious fairytale landscapes with deeply significant and ironic titles that populate Klee's oeuvre during the later stages of the war. Unlike many other German artists of the period, Klee was not in favour of the conflict, and the chaotic political events served to further his already apparent tendency to disassociate himself from the world around him. Much of his art plays on the theme of the antithesis between war and art, and the ironic title serves to juxtapose the barbarity of the conflict against the joyous colour and naïve beauty of this work. Klee sought to take art back to its simple, primordial, 'barbaric' beginnings in the subconscious, and uses this subversive and ironic comparision to make an implicit comment on the values and pretentions of a 'civilisation' that had culminated in collective homicide.

In the present work Klee creates a harmonious interplay between the abstract background and the cosmic, child-like figurative elements in the foreground. The flat, geometric planes are reminiscent of the block-like square with which he had previously depicted North African architecture on his 1914-15 trip with August Macke, but also signify a growing tendency towards abstraction. Indeed even the foreground elements have an architectural quality, perhaps a sign of his awareness of the Bauhaus movement, which he was later to join in 1921. However despite this interest in architecture, Klee never adopted the constructivist utilitarian aesthetic, but incorporated elements of these movements into his fantastical, dream-like world, which was both a refuge from and rebuke to the society that resulted in the mass destruction of World War One.