M HKA Ensembles

Painting

Collection: Privécollectie.

The German-Swiss painter Paul Klee is synonymous with Bauhaus and his colour theory based on dynamic transition. His work frequently alludes to music, poetry and mythology. Throughout his whole artistic career, he searched for new forms of expressions to let go of true-to-nature depiction of reality. An important source of inspiration are his trips to faraway countries, for example to Tunisia. In addition, he was also inspired by children’s drawings and drawings of psychiatric patients. In general, Klees work reflect a sense of humour and melancholy.

At the end of the twenties, beginning of the thirties of last century, he focused on the study of “Movement in the air”. Sollte Steigen is a product of this study: by using various motives and symbols like an arrow and a balloon, the painting brings into play the question of gravity. The title- Sollte Steigen- is a wordplay which alludes to the possible and conditional ascension. Klee was convinced that total freedom of movement in the air was impossible, because that freedom was always subject to material restrictions and the laws of gravity. For him, this was the “the root of human tragedy”: human beings also seem free, but in the end they too are restricted in their movements by physical and conventional boundaries. This negative vision towards (the freedom of) human beings marks the start of a difficult period in Klee’s life, starting in 1933. With the rise of Nazism, he is forced to leave Germany. In addition, the first symptoms of a rare disease, which he will succumb to a couple of years later, start to manifest themselves.