Klee, Paul

1879-1940
Klee, Paul Biography

Swiss painter who was one of the most original masters of modern art. Belonging to no specific art movement, Paul Klee created art works known for their fantastic dream images, wit, and imagination.

A German citizen, Paul Klee lived much of his life in Switzerland. He was born in Munchenbuchsee, near Bern, Switzerland, on December 18, 1879, and in 1898 moved to Munich, where he studied art at a private school and at the Munich Academy. His earliest artworks were pencil landscape studies that showed the influence of impressionism. Paul Klee was a teacher at the Bauhaus, Germany's most advanced art school, from 1920 to 1931.

Klee was also a master draftsman, and many of his artworks are elaborated line drawings with subject matter that grew out of fantasy or dream imagery; he described his technique in these drawings as "taking a line for a walk

After 1935, afflicted by a progressive skin and muscular disease, Klee adopted a broad, flat style characterized by thick, crayonlike lines and large areas of subdued color.

Paul Klee died in Muralto, Switzerland, on June 29, 1940. His artwork influenced all later 20th-century surrealist and nonobjective artists and was a prime source for the budding abstract expressionist movement.

You can buy Paul Klee fine art reproduction oil paintings at Galerie Dada. Just click on the 'Back' button.

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