ZPK Exhibit: Klee Considers Death

 

Paul Klee, Ohne Titel (Todesangel)/Untitled (Angel of Death); 1940; oil paint on canvas        Painted shortly before his death....

Paul Klee, Genien/Genies (Figures out of a ballet); 1922; ink, watercolor and pencil on paper on cardboard

Paul Klee, Friedhof/Cemetery; 1920; oil paint and ink on linen

Traces of painting done by Paul  Klee called "Girl Dies and Becomes."

It is suspected that Paul Klee drew this design after a young woman, close friend of the family, drowned in 1933.  She had given her cat Bimbo to the Klee family.  After doing these sketches Paul Klee painted over them and used the other side of the canvas.  "Girl Dies and Becomes" was only discovered in 1990 when the covering paint fell off.  This story is told in a recent exhibition at the Zentrum Paul Klee:  "A Shining Secret.  Kids Curate Klee."

https://www.zpk.org/admin/data/hosts/zpk/files/page_editorial_link/file_en/228/kinder-kuratieren-klee_ausstellungsfuehrer_en_web.pdf?lm=1653039809

Paul Klee; Sammlung Rosengart

 Sammlung Rosengart/Rosengart Collection Museum in Bern Switzerland

https://www.rosengart.ch/en/welcome

These five show:  a range of Klee subjects,  the intense creativity, the playfulness, experimentation with materials, and range of emotions, productivity.  And general mastery of  Paul Klee.  The last painting Hoping Once More was done a few months before he died (of the painful disease scleroderma).

Paul Klee, Riesenblattlaus/Giant aphid; 1920; lithograph

Paul Klee, Doppelzelt/Double tent; 1923; watercolor and pen on paper, cut and recombined, above left strips of  paper with watercolor added, marginal strips with watercolor and pen at the bottom, bordered with gouache and pen, on cardboard

Paul Klee, Felsen am Meer/Cliffs by the Sea; 1924; watercolor and ink on paper, paper strips attached below, on cardboard

Paul Klee, Predigt für Wüstentiere/Sermon for Desert Animals; 1929; crayon on paper with dabs of glue, on cardboard

Paul Klee, nochmals hoffend/Hoping once more; 1939; watercolor on wool on cardboard

Cityscapes; Paul Klee; Sammlung Rosengart

 

Paul Klee, Stadt-Kern I/Town centre I; 1935; watercolor and ink on paper on cardboard

Paul Klee, Bergdorf (herbstlich)/Mountain village, autumnal; 1934; oil colors on white grounded canvas on plywood

Paul Klee, Lagunenstadt/Town on a Lagoon; 1932; watercolor and ink on paper on cardboard

Paul Klee, Ruinen von Git/Ruins of Git; 1931; oil paint on cardboard nailed to stretcher

Mysterious Symbols; Paul Klee; Sammlung Rosengart

 

Paul Klee; zerstörtes Ägypten/Egypt destroyed; 1924; watercolor and ink on paper on carton

Paul Klee, Treppen und Tore/Stairs and gates; 1926; watercolor on gypsum ground on gypsum plate on slate with original frame

Paul Klee, Vollmondopfer/Sacrifice at full moon; 1933; oil and wax color on painting paper with canvas pressing on cardboard

Paul Klee, Urkunde/Certificate; 1933; watercolor on gypsum ground on gauze on plywood

Davos

Europe Taking the Cure

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner,

Thomas Mann

and the Myth of Davos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davos

 

The Pull of Tinzenhorn

 Looking south from Davos, on clear days Tinzenhorn mountain is visible.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's paintings show Tinzenhorn and its magical power, again and again.

Kirchner; Davos mit Kirche, Davos im Sommer; Davos with Church, Davos in Summer, 1925

Kirchner; Alpleben/Life in the Alps Triptych; 1917-1919

Kirchner; Stafelalp im Schnee/Stafelalp in Snow; 1917

Kirchner; Mondaufgang auf der Stafelalp/Moonrise on Stafelalp; 1917

 

Kirchner; Tinzenhorn-Zugenschlucht bei Monstern/Tinzenhorn-Mountain Gorge near Monstein; 

The Valley of the Landwasser

Davos Switzerland is in the valley of the Landwasser River. 

Even in the valley there are reminders of rocks under the surface, the mountains they form, and the power of the water that flows off.

Gardens with the Rocks

The path along the river brings views of gardens with and without rocks.

Wildboden Waldfriedhof

 The cemetery near Davos Switzerland is quite beautiful.

https://mapcarta.com/34456208

The Jewish cemetery outside the walls is less tended and beautiful in a different way.

Davos Sertigtal; Past and Present

 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner moved for the  last years of his life to the Sertig Valley.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/sertig-valley-and-village/

He painted from life and from photos that he took.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; Sertigtal im Herbst/Sertig Valley in Autumn; 1925

Below is a view of the Sertigtal from the west in June 2022.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; Die drei alten Frauen/The Three Old Women; 1925

Below is the photo of the three sisters from the Sertig Valley that Kirchner took and used.