Philadelphia got off easy compared to the rest of the country this winter.
With all the troubling events, it is reassuring to notice March weather scenes.
Frost on grass, above. Frost on the metal of a car, below.
Virginia Bluebells greet the light.
Friday, March 31, 2023
We Have Less Time Than We Think; Anything Can Happen
On the Ides of March, Alan went to hospital with a bowel blockage.
Upon leaving a medical appointment, we were so scrambled we got on the wrong train, got off in Torresdale and had to wait for an hour. A lonely man wanted to talk to Alan.
Alan checks out an infusion center. He hopes to start chemotherapy soon.
Alan gets a haircut; maybe the last one for a while.
Alan checking out an infusion center. He hopes to start chemotherapy as soon as possible.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Paul Klee Intro and Youth
In the early winter of 2023 the Fundació Miro in Barcelona hosted an exhibition jointly with the Zentrum Paul Klee: 'Paul Klee and the secrets of nature.' We decided to go. What a wonderful way to get to know a city and an artist we love. The initial 'chapters' of this blog show 8 installments of pictures from the Paul Klee exhibition. Then, there are 15 installments from in and around Barcelona: buildings by Antoni Gaudi, the Catalonian Museum of Art, and a hike up Montserrat.
In every case, the blog will only show 2-10 chapters at one time. You can keep track by the Table of Contents on the right hand side column. And/or, look for the button 'Older Posts' at the bottom right to go back in time.
There are two chapters of February 2023 images from Zurich, Switzerland and five chapters of paintings from the Kunsthaus Museum in Zurich.
There follows a London February 2023 segment: one installment from an exhibit of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, five chapters of pictures from a large Cezanne exhibition at the Tate Modern in London, a break of three chapters from Kew Gardens, one from the Courtauld Collection, one from the National Gallery, two from the British Museum and we finish at Hampstead Heath.
Paul Klee, 1879 - 1940 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee
'Paul Klee and the secrets of nature:' I learned that Paul Klee had been trained in a traditional realistic tradition of nature observation. Over the course of his life as an artist, he distanced himself from detailed realistic depictions and, at the same time, attempted to portray the inner essence or character: of animals, weather, plants, trees, landscapes. Nature was usually his teacher and subject matter. He also learned from his son and much of his art shows a primitive or childlike technique. There was, however, deep thinking and reflection in his approach. In his own words:
"The artist of today is more than an improved camera; he is more complex, richer, and wider. He is a creature on earth and a creature within the whole, that is to say, a creature on a star among stars... The object grows beyond its appearance through our knowledge of its inner being, through the knowledge that the thing is more than its outward aspect suggests..... Nature can afford to be prodigal in everything, the artist must be frugal down to the smallest detail. Nature is garrulous to the point of confusion, let the artist be truly taciturn... If my works sometimes produce a primitive impression, this 'primitiveness' is explained by my discipline, which consists in reducing everything to a few steps. It is no more than economy; that is, the ultimate professional awareness. Which is to say, the opposite of real primitiveness."
The few early works shown below in this chapter are from Paul Klee's early years, showing his training in realistic detailed nature studies. It is especially impressive in one exhibit to see where he went when you can see where he came from, and the thought and feeling behind every disciplined step on that journey. These four drawings were done before he was 20 and before he decided on a career in art.
Untitled (Butterfly), 1892. Klee was 13.
St. Beatenberg, Little Wood near the Waldrand/Edge of the Forest, 1895. Klee was 16.
St Peter's Island, 1896. Klee was 17.
Untitled (Landscape with Trees), 1898. Klee was 19.
Paul Klee Emerges
In the years 1900 to 1910, Paul Klee was was beginning to explore his own artistic development. He was still mostly a drawer and had not yet become comfortable with color. He married and had a son, went to art school, and worked on art, music and domestic chores while his wife Lily supported the family with music lessons.
Untitled (Above Act, near Burghausen), 1899.
Untitled (By the Salzach), 1899.
In the Quarry of Ostermundigen, Two Cranes, 1907.
Five Oak Trees, 1909.
On the Aare River near Bern, 1909.
Paul Klee: Trees
Different media, many years, a love of trees.
Number Tree Landscape,
1919.
Glowing Landscape, 1919.
Row of Trees in the Park, 1928.
Fir Trees on Rocks, 1929.
Trees in October, 1931.
Untitled/Trees, 1934.
Paul Klee: Water
An interest in water as a natural process, different media, playing around with different design idea approaches. Humor.
Water-Diviner, 1923.
Migrating Fishes, 1926.
Movements in Locks, 1929.
Floods, 1929.
Journey on a Torrent, 1937.
Paul Klee: Animals
Lessons and Observations: of Paul Klee's almost 10,000 works of art, most are drawings. His lifelong love of animals and humor are evident in just these four.
Outing of the Snails, 1915.
Outing of the Menagerie, 1926.
Animal Friendship, 1930.
Strange Bird, 1931.
Paul Klee: Ending
From 1935 on, Paul Klee suffered from a degenerative disease, which caused him to lose mobility, suffer great pain and ultimately succumb in 1940. Awareness of mortality, with the atmosphere of war is reflected in his art. There is less color, colors are darker with blue and black coming to the fore. Klee's manual dexterity diminished and sometimes he used his fingers instead of brushes. There is an experimentation with media and its temporariness, as when he used liquid to cause thin paper to wrinkle and curl. Klee's art becomes more material and direct. And somber.
Paul Klee and his Illness: https://www.zpk.org/en/musik-literatur-theaterbegleitprogramme/kalender/65-paul-klee-und-seine-krankheit-7.html
Germination, 1937.
In the Evening by the Sea, 1940.
Winter is Coming, 1939.
This Star Teaches Bending, 1940.