Paul Klee: pictures and their description. German and Swiss artist Paul Klee (Paul Klee)

The artist Paul Klee is one of the most prominent representatives of avant-garde painting of the first half of the XX century. He is considered to be his in two European countries, after all, being a German citizen, he was born, grew up and spent the rest of his life in Switzerland.

Childhood of the artist

Paul Klee, whose paintings are now known to fans of painting around the world, was born in 1879 in a small town Münchenbuhsee, located near Bern. The family of the future artist turned out to be creative: his father taught music, and my mother sang songs. When Paul was 3 years old, my grandmother gave him pencils. Since that time, the child has become interested in drawing. In addition to painting, he learned from childhood to play the violin and compose poetry. Paul did not like going to school, he preferred to study only what inspired him.

Education and first exhibition

In 1898, Klee began to study graphics at the Munich private school G. Knirr, and 2 years later entered the Academy of Arts, where his teacher of painting was F. von Stuck. After graduation, Paul traveled through Italy, getting acquainted with the architecture and paintings of the Renaissance, and then lived in Bern and was engaged in graphics. During this period he created series of engravings "One-winged hero", "Inventions", "Virgo on the tree" and others. In 1906, a young artist took as his wife the pianist Lili Stumpf and finally settled in Munich. It was here that he tried to declare his talent as Paul Klee. The exhibition of his paintings was held in Bern in 1910 for the first time. His early engravings, watercolors and drawings were presented on it. The works were written in the Art Nouveau style and, to the great regret of the master, remained virtually unnoticed.

Reincarnation into a genius

While living in Munich, Klee became intimate with Kandinsky and became a member of the Expressionist Union "Blue Rider". The creative group gathered representatives of art that created works in the style of the avant-garde. The artists who enter it through their canvases expressed their own perception of reality, far from the generally accepted academic standards in painting.

In 1914, Paul Klee went on a trip to Tunisia. During this trip, the artist finally formed a special, unique to him, the coloristic taste. Never before, Klee did not write as much as during this period. Out of his brush came sketches, oil and watercolor paintings ("Kairouan", "By the Hammamet Motive").

With the outbreak of World War I, Paul Klee was drafted into the ranks of the army. He was not sent to the front, but was commissioned to paint the fuselages of military aircraft. Even in this difficult period, the avant-garde found time to continue drawing. After the end of hostilities, Paul Klee returned to Munich. The exhibition of his paintings took place in 1920. The canvases presented on it were more like drawings of a child. They were primitive in nature, but it was children's spontaneity that attracted the attention of art lovers. From this moment a new stage in the artist's creative life began.

In the 20's and 30's, in addition to writing paintings, he was engaged in teaching at the school of artistic design and construction of the Bauhaus. In 1925, his paintings were presented at an exhibition of surrealists in Paris. After coming to power Hitler Klee in 1933 went to Switzerland, where he spent the last years of his life. During this time, two more exhibitions of the master's works took place (in Bern and Zurich). At age 55, the artist was diagnosed with scleroderma. It was from this disease in 1940 that Paul Klee died. Pictures, written by him, in their quantity exceeded 9 thousand paintings. Almost half of them are exhibited today in the center dedicated to his creation, located in Bern. Other masterpieces of the author can be seen in galleries or private collections around the world.

Paul Klee in the Pushkin Museum

Despite the fact that the name of the artist has long stood on the same level with such avant-garde artists as Matisse, Kandinsky and Picasso, in Russia his work until recently was little known. The situation changed after in December 2014-March 2015. The Pushkin Museum of Moscow hosted an exposition of paintings Klee "No day without a line." On her fans of painting presented 150 of his works, relating to different creative stages of the life of the master. The organizers designed the exhibition in such a way that the author's paintings could be traced all his way of becoming an avant-garde artist, beginning with early drawings and ending with late paintings.

Feature style master

What is so attractive for lovers of contemporary art Paul Klee? Pictures of this author are easily recognized by the technique of execution. They can not be attributed to any one style. In the author's works elements of primitivism, surrealism, cubism and fauvism are connected. The simplicity and straightforwardness of the lines, combined with the skillful selection of colors, made Klee's paintings masterpieces of art, and himself a genius.

Pictures of the early 20-ies

One of the most striking works of the avant-garde can be called "Diana in the autumn wind" (1921). In the careless lines left by the artist on paper, clearly visible slender silhouette of a young woman. Picturing how the wind lifts the leaves and waves the light fabric of the dress, Klee successfully created the illusion of motion in a frozen form. Thanks to soft and warm colors, the picture seems even more dynamic, airy and musical. From the young lady she breathes carelessness and optimism, and this mood is transmitted to the spectators contemplating the picture. But in the canvas, there are also sad notes: the dynamism of the image hints at the fact that youth is fleeting and the fall of life is not far off, from which it is impossible to hide.

Opposite feelings are caused by the geometric drawing of the artist "Senecchio", created in 1922. From the canvas to the viewer, a comedy actor stares with an unnaturally round, masklike head. His face, deprived of proportions, is divided into several multicolored rectangles, and blood-red eyes look in different directions. Despite the fact that there is a pleasant color scheme in the picture, it blows with cold and anxiety. Having painted through the geometric figures the face of the actor, the artist tried to convey his inner world, directly dependent on reincarnations on the stage.

Description of "Cats and Birds"

Paul Klee loved pets and often painted them on canvas. In 1928 he created his famous work "Cat and Bird". The painting is written in oil and stored in the New York Museum of Modern Art. The canvas is decorated with the sand-yellow head of the cat, on the forehead of which is painted a small pink bird. The animal here acts as a hunter. It caught sight of its prey and does not take from it huge green eyes. The carefree bird does not realize that her fate is predetermined and in a few seconds she will die in the mouth of a bloodthirsty predator. You can not escape the Ptah. This is hinted at and its blood color, and the target, painted Klee directly above her body.

Dying creativity

Until his death continued to create Paul Klee. The paintings of his last years even more resembled children's drawings. Among the last works of the master is "Death and Fire". It was created in 1940, when the genius was very ill. Primitive lines in combination with gloomy colors convey the inner experiences of Klee. In the foreground of the picture is depicted death, whose face mutilated a terrible grin. Behind her, you can see the flame that has almost reached the horizon, approaching the armless man. Most likely, in the image of this character, Klee portrayed himself, feeling the approach of death and understanding his helplessness before her.

Despite the serious illness, the last year of his life became very productive for the artist. Having created his own unique style of writing, Klee remained faithful to him until his last breath.