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| Refuge, 1930 Paul Klee Swiss, 1879-1940 Oil, tempera and watercolor on plaster grounded gauze mounted on cardboard 21-1/2 x 13-3/4 in. (54.6 x 34.9 cm) Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection P.1953.065 © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Reproduction, including downloading of ARS works is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Not on view Although known for its wit and buoyancy, Klee's work shows a wide and complex range of emotions. Here a "figure," consisting of a head with an arm and a leg, is frozen in space, swimming through an opaque and heavy atmosphere. An amorphous black shape is floating on the left; is this the reason for the figure's terrified expression? Overhead hovers a form that may be a mountain or a tent, either the sought haven that is the refuge or the threat from which the figure flees. In contrast to the scene's ominous overtones, the dominant colors are soft pinks, mauves, and gray-blues; the principal components are defined with a delicate brush-stroked hatching in brown watercolor, which belies the terrified (or terrifying) expression of the main figure. View Provenance |
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