Paul Klee: Life and Work
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists
Paul Klee: Life and Work Details
The many books on Paul Klee (1879–1940) published over the years should not obscure the fact that there has been no new, comprehensive Klee overview since Will Grohmann’s much reprinted 1954 monograph. With Paul Klee: Life and Work, the Zentrum Paul Klee has set out to fill this gap, drawing on a wealth of new resources including the Klee family’s archives, much of which is published here for the first time. Life and work are truly integrated in this massive, 344-page volume: Klee’s vast body of work is surveyed chronologically, as the book narrates his life alongside the abundant reproductions of drawings, paintings, watercolors, sculptures, puppets and numerous archival documents and photographs (500 reproductions in total, half of which are color). The book divides Klee’s career into eight periods: “Childhood and Youth”; “Munich and the Encounter with the Avant Garde”; “World War I and the Breakthrough to Success”; “At the Bauhaus in Weimar”; “Master of Modern Art”; “The Move to Dusseldorf and the Nazi Rise to Power”; “First Years of Emigration in Bern”; and “Final Years.” The result of many years of research and labor, this magisterial publication demonstrates conclusively why Klee numbers among the most influential and best loved artists of the past 100 years.
Reviews
I am a painter, so my primary interest of getting this book is for the beautiful reproductions. However, I was a bit disappointed when I received the book, not by the quality of the print, but by the quantity and size.The book is short on large format reproductions. The book has 488 illustrations, a huge part of the illustrations are pictures of klee, his friends, family etc. Of the remaining color plates, a lot of them are about 2"x2" size, sharing space with text on a page. Though it makes it easier to reference between the paintings and text, it is not ideal for the purpose of studying or appreciating the paintings.That said, I am very impressed with the text. It is very well written and easy to understand. It helped me greatly in understanding Klee's art, for example the link between repetition in forms/shades and bach's fugue, and the message behind the painting-- Revolution of Viaduct in its historical background. Unlike another reviewer's comments about lack of Klee's quotes, the book actually has a lot of klee's quote from his diary, his letters, and use them effectively together with the paintings to give the reader a comprehensive understanding about Klee's works.In short, I would recommend the book if you want to get a good, overall understanding about Klee's work, but explore other books if your main focus is a lot of large format reproductions.
