Paul Klee: “Color and I are One”

Paul Klee - Föhn in Marc's Garden - 1915 - watercolour on paper mounted on cardboard - Height: 20 cm (7.87 in.), Width: 15 cm (5.91 in.) - Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus - Munich (click photo for larger image)Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss-born painter and graphic artist whose personal, often gently humorous works are replete with allusions to dreams, music, and poetry. His art is difficult to classify. Art created by non-industrial cultures, surrealism, cubism, and children's art are all blended into Klee’s small-scale, delicate paintings, watercolors, and drawings—which number over 7000. Klee grew up in a musical family and was himself a violinist. After much hesitation, however, he chose to study art, and attended the Munich Academy in 1900. Klee later toured Italy (1901-02), responding enthusiastically to Early Christian and Byzantine art. A turning point in Klee's career came on a visit he made to Tunisia in 1914. He was so overwhelmed by the intense light there that he wrote, “Color has taken possession of me. No longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever. That is the significance of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter.”