"Tree of Houses" typifies Klee's experiments with a variety of materials and techniques. In this case, he has painted over strips of gauze and paper, creating a rich, tactile surface. A fanciful apartment complex emerges out of a forest, its various levels connected by ladders. Below, a solitary figure begins his ascent.
Details
- Artist Name: Paul Klee (Swiss, 1879-1940)
- Title: The Tree of Houses
- Date: 1918
- Medium: Watercolor, gouache and India ink on chalk-primed gauze on wove papers, mounted on cardboard
- Dimensions: comp: 8-5/8 x 7-1/4 in. (21.9 x 18.4 cm); mount: 9-5/8 x 7-7/8 in. (24.4 x 20.0 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection
- Accession Number: P.1953.025
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Museum
Object Information
[Galerie Der Strum, Berlin, probably sold c. 1919 to];
[Stadtsyndicus a.D. Kauth, Berlin, sold c. 1925 to];
Galka Scheyer;
Pasadena Art Institute, Pasadena, 1953-1954;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena,1954-1975;
Norton Simon Museum, 1975.
Paul Klee, Johannes Molzahn, Kurt Schwitters
- Der Sturm, 1919-01 to
- Ponente, Nello, Klee, pp. 54, 61, 62
- Paul Klee Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 2, 1913-1918,no. 1930
- Barnett, Vivian Endicott, The Blue Four Collection at the Norton Simon Museum,no. 303 pp. 268-270; cover
- Kröll, Christina, Die Bildtitel Paul Klees: Eine Studie zur Beziehung von Bild und Sprache in der Kunst des zwanzigsten Jarhrjunderts, pp. 90, 93, 172, 175, 176
- Paul Klee, p. 7
- Sylvie Charriere, A Fleur de Mots (third edition), p. 21
- Rosenthal, Mark, Arts Magazine, p. 111
- Kersten, Wolfgang, Paul Klee: "Zerstörung der Konstruction zuliebe?", pp. 44, 45-47, 55-56, 63, 96, 137, 138, 140, 154
- Anger, Jenny, Paul Klee and The Decorative in Modern Art,fig. 41 pp. 109-110
- Jordan, Jim M., Paul Klee and Cubism, p. 165
- Jollos, Waldemar, Das Kunsblatt, p. 227
- The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection, Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena,no. 258 pp. 99, 102
- Henry, Sara Lynn, Pantheon,fig. 6 p. 151
- Hildebrandt, Hans, Die Kunst des 19. und 12. Jarhunderts, p. 422
- Grohmann, Will, Paul Klee, p. 200
- Werckmeister, O. K., The Making of Paul Klee's Career, 1914-1920, pp. 112, 113, 115, 117, 136
- Salz, Peter, German Expressionist Painting,fig. 136 p. 296
- Huggler, Max, The Drawings of Paul Klee, p. 25
- Kersten, Wolfgang and Osamu Okuda, Paul Klee: Im Zeichen der Teilung, p. 58
Additional Artwork by Artist
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