Anybody into Paul Klee?

[celestina]

If so, why? What's your favorite painting/sketch by him and why?

For me, I love the playful quality of his work. There's a skilled irreverance for convention and form in his works that's just brilliant.

It's difficult for me to decide which work by him is my favorite. It's a toss up between

1.) a painting "Balloon at the Window" here http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?Search=Klee,++Paul

2.) a sketch called "Forgetful Guardian," but I can't find a link to it anywhere.

[Finagle]

Oh come on, admit it. You just started this thread to suck up to the mods. Now get over to the Buffy/Charmed thread with all the rest of us lowbrows.

[celestina]

[celestina hanging her head in shame] Dangit! I've been found out. Finagle, please don't tell anyone I was trying to suck up to the mods. Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

[screech-owl]

Oooooooh, what a WONDERFUL link!!!

I'm more of a Klimt and Duerer person myself, but Klee does have some interesting works. I'm going to have to read more on him. Really drawn to "Super Chess 1937" for some reason (page 3).

Oh my. "Night Watch". I have been looking for a copy of that and "Deck the Walls" would not order me a copy. Thank you thank you thank you. I am getting a copy. Wheeee!

[celestina]

screech owl, glad I could help. :-) Hmmm. I don't know too much about Klimt or Duerer. I'll have to do some more research on them.

[Orbweaver8]

Ok this is my very first post so bear with me please. I do like Klee very much but am hard pressed to choose a particular work. I find that his rich color choices and the odd balance of his pieces appeal to me.

I also am a huge fan of a contempory of Klee, Marcel DuChamp. "Nude Descending a Staircase" is one of my favorite artworks of all time, the vitality and motion combined with the grace of the figure make that work enthralling. http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm I have always had a soft spot for the Dadaists though <heh>

[celestina]

Welcome to the boards, Orbweaver8!

Yeah, I LOVE Klee's use of color too because it makes the shapes in his works come alive. For example, in "The Rose Garden," my second favorite by Klee, his use of shades of red and pink make a two-dimensional painting look three-dimensional, even as the viewer is aware that the painting is a two-dimensional medium. (Look at the towers/buildings and the roses in the painting to see if you see what I'm talking about.) This painting and actually many others like it intrigue me because Klee does seem to be incorporating some kind of metacritcal commentary into it. That is, the painting itself becomes self-aware that it's shifting between two-dimensional and three-dimensional realms and it is purposely flaunting the viewers notions of what a realistic perspective should be. The flowers are almost as tall as the tops of the towers! It's as if Klee's toying with the boundaries of dimensions that we take for granted.

As far as Rene Magritte, I really like "Empire of Lights" by him. I first saw it at the SF MOMA, and it blew me away. I just had to keep coming back to it to stare at it. It's just a fascinating yet unsettling study of light. It plays with the viewer's notion of reality. You have to think about this painting's subtle mastery of light. It seems as if Magritte is asking the viewer where can light reasonably have dominion? And in a way, Magritte by producing a painting in which day and night are conflated and juxtaposed into one visual moment, is really flaunting his arrogance as a creator. Altogether, his work is truly fascinating to study.

As far as "Nude Descending a Staircase," I like that one by Duchamp because it looks as if the subject is walking by a funhouse mirror, or the subject is walking by a mirror that has been shattered. It's a powerful work that does comment on how shaky our perception of the physical form actually is. Still, I'm more of Cubist person. As far as Cubist painters go, my absolute favorite painter is Georges Braques and his "Man with a Violin." This work in particular and Braques work in general is so intricate and precise. Oooh, la, la! :-) Okay, I'm rambling now, and I'm going to stop.

[Purd Werfect]

Along with his colorful paintings, he's done some great little line drawings. Some of them are on display currently at the SF MOMA, and they're among my favorites of his work. He has a couple where he draws people with realistic proportions, but in totally twisted poses. Here's an example. Of course, they look much better IRL.

[absoul]

I have been a huge Klee fan since college. A beautiful dark brooding girl in one of my art classes had a book on Klee... needless to say I studied his work intensively the next week.

Death and Fire was one of the first works to really get my attention. Klees lighter works such as Twittering Machine (my personal favorite) really define his mastery. Twitters use of lines emphasising the birds fragility and his use of color still amaze me. Klee has an alternative feeling to him that I really realate to.

I have been using Ad Parnasssum as a background picture on my home system for 3 years now. Fantastic artist.

[celestina]

Purd Werfect, I saw the SF MOMA's collection of Klee prints last year. I don't recall seeing the one in the link, but who knows? It's rather striking. Thank you for sharing. :-)

absoul, thanks for sharing "Twittering Machine." I don't think I've seen that one before. "Ad Parnassum" is a gorgeous work. It just looks so much like a mosaic. :-)

[aseymayo]

You can count me in. I'm awfully fond of the Legend of the Nile.

I had it as computer wallpaper for a long time and then I decided to take it a step further and make it into wall wallpaper. I blew up the jpg in sections, printed it on sticky-back paper and put it up on a wall in my bathroom. The colors have faded a little from sunlight, but it's still a delight to look at every day.

I love the colors, the division of the river into watery fields (referring to the fertility of the Nile caused by regular flooding) and the objects and symbols of Egypt that look like they are painted with delta mud. And in the center is an image that's particularly dear to the hearts of Mr. Mayo and myself - the Man in the Boat!

[screech-owl]

Okay, going completely off Klee (or just a sidestep):

Has anyone else seen the guy who takes bits of famous paintings and photocollages them?

Aberrant art

My favorites:
[*] Sunday Afternoon Looking for the Car[*] The Garden of Uninsured Motorists[*] Capt. Frans Cocq and Lt. van Ruytenburch trying on Helga's Underwear (bits and pieces of "Night Watch")[*] Cubicle-ism

[celestina]

asemayo, thanks for sharing that print. Yeah, there's something really powerful about that print. I LOVE what you did with your bathroom, especially with the fish dangling in front of the print. You're giving me decorating ideas. Hmmm. So is there a particular program that you use to make a print into wallpaper? How do you blow it up and then make it print in sections?

screech owl, LOL! That's an interesting website. I like the spoof on Van Gogh called "Irises" and "Design Flaws."

[matt_mcl]

I would like to use "Twittering Machine" for the cover of my translation into Esperanto of Saul's The Doubter's Compainion (if I ever get the sumbitch finished).

[aseymayo]

Hey, thanks, Celestina - nice to think I've inspired you. I didn't use a wallpaper-maker program, though there are probably some out there - just a bit of math to figure out how to divide the jpeg and get it to the size I wanted. If you have a project in mind, I'd be happy to provide more detail by email.

[celestina]

You're welcome, aseymayo. Yes, I'd appreciate whatever help you could provide, especially since I'm a math idiot. :-)

[xanadu]

Originally posted by aseymayo
You can count me in. I'm awfully fond of the Legend of the Nile.

I had it as computer wallpaper for a long time and then I decided to take it a step further and make it into wall wallpaper. I blew up the jpg in sections, printed it on sticky-back paper and put it up on a wall in my bathroom. The colors have faded a little from sunlight, but it's still a delight to look at every day.

I love the colors, the division of the river into watery fields (referring to the fertility of the Nile caused by regular flooding) and the objects and symbols of Egypt that look like they are painted with delta mud. And in the center is an image that's particularly dear to the hearts of Mr. Mayo and myself - the Man in the Boat!

(/small hijack)
Wow! I clicked on the link, half expecting to see a bunch of old, crumpled up sheets of paper stuck to the wall with sticky tack or something, but that's pretty impressive. You're gonna have to come and do something like that in my bathroom!
(/hijack)

[zyzzyva]

When i was in Munich for a couple of days, i happened to stop into a museum that was about half Klee works. Wasn't really intended or anything, just one of those "well i'm supposed to meet my friend in the park here in 4 hours... what can i do in the meantime? Oh look, there's a museum over there!"

Anyhow, i discovered a work there that just captured me. Think i spent about 45 minutes looking at the thing. The placard said it was by Klee, but i can't remember the title (may have been untitled). Since then, i haven't been able to find a print of it anywhere, whether online, in books, etc. Very frustrating! The painting itself was bright purple, depicting two smiling faces. If anyone by chance has any idea as to the title, i'd be forever in your debt.

[celestina]

Hey zyzzyva, in the link I provided in the OP is it the print called "Face of a face" on page 6, or is it "Looking into the Shadows" on page 3?