Fav Artist Fridays!

I'd like to introduce you to one of the artists our third graders are currently studying, Swiss-German impressionist painter Paul Klee!

Klee in his Studio; image courtesy of
http://recontextualizingtheavant-garde.blogspot.com/.

Mr. Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland on December 18, 1879. His parents were both talented musicians--his father a music teacher and his mother a Swiss singer--and taught him to play the violin. He became so talented on violin that he was invited to play as an exceptional member of the Bern Music Association at age 11! Once he reached his teens, though, he decided to focus on visual arts.



Black Columns in a Landscape by Paul Klee, 1919

 

Southern (Tunisian) Gardens by Paul Klee, 1919

After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany he became great friends with artists like Wassily Kandsinsky, August Macke, and Franz Marc who were trying new things all the time! But it wasn't until a visit to Tunisia in 1914 that Klee really got inspired.  He said of his trip:



"Colour has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever... Colour and I are one. I am a painter."



Burg und Sonne (Fortress and Sun) by Paul Klee, 1928



Fire in the Evening by Paul Klee, 1929



Paul Klee's style and technique continued to change throughtout his artistic career and he was influenced by everything from war to jazz. Today, his paintings can sell for upwards of $7.5 million and in 2005 a museum was built in his honor in Bern, Switzerland. It holds about 4,000 pieces of his artwork!



Insula Dulcamara by Paul Klee, 1938

Check out www.paulklee.net/ for more information, quotes, and images.