Paul Klee - Masterpiece Curations

“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” ~Paul Klee

Paul Klee was a German-Swiss artist who was active in the early 20th century and is best known for his Cubist and Expressionist paintings.

Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland (pronunciation), on December 18, 1879. However his family was of German origin, and so he spent his childhood in Germany. He studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (pronunciation) from 1898 to 1901. After spending a year in Italy, he moved to Berlin, where he lived and worked for the next eight years.

In 1910, Klee returned to Switzerland and married Lily Stumpf, and the couple had a son, Paul. When World War I broke out, Klee served in the Swiss army during. During the war, he spent much of his time painting, venting the horrors of battle as well as his grief over losing friends.

Klee later joined the Dada movement, and his work began to reflect the influence of Cubism and Expressionism with his use of bright, bold colors and simple shapes. He became a member of the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1921, and taught at the school until 1933. During this time, he produced a large body of work in a variety of styles.

Klee was forced to leave the Bauhaus when the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. He returned to Switzerland, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.

He died in 1940. He was a highly individualistic artist, and his work cannot be easily classified into any one style or movement, but his Cubist and Expressionist paintings are among his best-known and most influential works.