The Lamb - Paul Klee

A 1939 work by Paul Klee, featuring a lamb rendered in horizontal bands with a symbolic cross and a single drop of red.

Paul Klee produced The Lamb in 1939, a period marked by his failing health and the gathering political storm in Europe. The work displays his characteristic approach to form, where the subject is constructed through a series of horizontal bands that segment the pictorial space. These lines create a rhythmic, almost musical structure, typical of Klee's interest in the relationship between visual art and musical notation.

The central figure of the lamb is rendered with minimal, schematic lines, yet it carries a heavy emotional weight. A single, prominent red drop hangs from the animal, providing a stark contrast to the muted, earthy tones of the background. Above the lamb, a dark cross is positioned, suggesting a clear religious or sacrificial iconography. The composition is divided by a vertical line, a feature often seen in Klee's work from this era, which adds a sense of fragmentation to the scene.

Klee's technique here involves layering thin glazes of colour, allowing the underlying structure to remain visible. The horizontal striations suggest a landscape or a field, yet the space remains intentionally ambiguous and flat. By reducing the animal to its essential geometry, Klee directs the viewer towards the symbolic nature of the image rather than a literal representation. The palette is restrained, relying on ochres, greens, and blues to create a sombre atmosphere. This work demonstrates Klee's ability to synthesise complex emotional states into simplified, graphic forms, a method he refined throughout his career at the Bauhaus and beyond. The print captures the texture of the original oil application, preserving the subtle variations in tone that define the work's quiet, meditative quality.