The Fruit by Paul Klee
Comedian (Invention 4) by Paul Klee
Angel Applicant by Paul Klee
Seventeen, Insane by Paul Klee
Small Village in the Autumn Sun by Paul Klee
On a Motif from Hammamet by Paul Klee
Omega 5 (Traps) by Paul Klee
A Pride of Lions (Take Note!) by Paul Klee
The Adventure Ship by Paul Klee
Abstract Trio by Paul Klee
Actor's Mask by Paul Klee
Ad marginem by Paul Klee

Paul Klee

1879–1940 · Swiss

Klee was ambidextrous. He wrote with his right hand and painted with his left. He also played the violin at a professional level from the age of eleven, when the Bern Music Association invited him to join their orchestra. He had to choose between music and art, and art won, but he played the violin before every painting session for the rest of his life as a kind of warm-up.

Key facts

Lived
1879–1940, Swiss[8]
Movements
[8]
Works held in
31 museums[1]
Wikipedia
View article

Biography

He was born in 1879[8] near Bern, the son of a music teacher and a singer. After studying in Munich, he spent years working mainly as a graphic artist and draughtsman, uncertain about colour. That changed in April 1914[8], when he travelled to Tunisia with the painters August Macke and Louis Moilliet. The trip lasted twelve days. The North African light converted him. He returned to Switzerland and began painting in earnest.

He taught at the Bauhaus for a full decade, from 1921[8] to 1931, serving as form master in the bookbinding, stained glass, and mural painting workshops. His collected lecture notes, later published as Writings on Form and Design Theory, are considered as significant to modern art as Leonardo da Vinci's treatises were to the Renaissance. He also taught at the Dusseldorf Academy until the Nazis fired him in 1933.

His household included at least six cats: Fritzi, Bimbo, Nuggi, Mys, Skunk, and a second Bimbo. They were welcome in his studio. He let them walk across his canvases.

In 1937[8], the Nazis displayed 17 of his works in the Degenerate Art exhibition and seized 102 more from public collections. By then he was already ill. The disease began around 1935 with fatigue, a rash, difficulty swallowing, and pain in his hands. It was only identified after his death as scleroderma, a progressive condition that hardens the skin and connective tissue. Despite this, in 1939 alone he produced over 1,200 works, the most productive year of his career. He died in June 1940[8] in Muralto, Switzerland, aged sixty.

Timeline

  1. 1879Born
  2. 1919Painted "Sumpflegende"
  3. 1919Painted "Villa R"
  4. 1920Painted "Angelus Novus"
  5. 1922Painted "Twittering Machine"
  6. 1923Painted "Dance of the Moth"
  7. 1940Died

Notable Works

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Where to See Paul Klee

19 museums worldwide.

Plan your visit →

  • Metropolitan Museum of Art

    New York City, United States

    70 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Kunstmuseum Basel

    Basel, Switzerland

    46 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Zentrum Paul Klee

    Schosshalde, Switzerland

    21 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • National Gallery of Art

    Washington, D.C., United States

    69 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

    Upper East Side, United States

    41 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Museum of Modern Art

    Midtown Manhattan, United States

    19 works
    Museum detailsMap

Related Artists

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky

1866–1944 · Russian

Amedeo Modigliani

Amedeo Modigliani

1884–1920 · Italian

Theo van Doesburg

Theo van Doesburg

1883–1931 · Dutch

Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois

1911–2010 · French

Paul Nash

Paul Nash

1889–1946 · British

Corneliu Michailescu

Corneliu Michailescu

1898–1965 · Romanian

Plan your visit to see Paul Klee →

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is paul klee an abstract artist?
    Paul Klee's style, technique, and subject matter show that he avoided aesthetic categorisation. It is virtually impossible to confuse his work with that of another artist.
  • Is paul klee famous?
    This artist's work has been displayed in the United States, with a rich selection from public and private collections in both Europe and America. Some of his works have rarely been shown.
  • Paul klee art style for kids?
    One passage notes that colour and line were the elements by which Paul Klee expressed his outlook on life. Another passage compares his work to a child's collage.
  • Paul klee history?
    Paul Klee was born in 1879[8] near Bern to a musical family. He studied art in Munich from 1898[8].
  • Was paul klee bauhaus?
    He taught at the Bauhaus for ten years, from 1921[8] to 1931. During that time, he served as form master in the bookbinding, stained glass, and mural painting workshops.
  • Was paul klee german?
    Paul Klee was born in Switzerland, but he inherited German citizenship from his father. He was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, in 1879[8].
  • What is paul klee best known for?
    Paul Klee was a quirky artist.
  • Where can i see paul klee paintings?
    Paul Klee's works can be seen at Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Kunstmuseum Basel, and 2 other museums worldwide.
  • Where did paul klee live?
    Paul Klee was born near Bern, but he settled in Munich in 1906[8].
  • Who was paul klee for kids?
    Paul Klee was a Swiss[8]-German artist who loved music, colour, and cats. He said that drawing was like 'taking a line for a walk'.
  • Why did paul klee die?
    Paul Klee died in 1940[8] at the age of 61.

Sources

Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Paul Klee.

  1. [1] museum Brooklyn Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  2. [2] museum Toledo Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
  3. [3] museum Buffalo AKG Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  4. [4] museum Institut Valencià d'Art Modern Used for: museum holdings.
  5. [5] museum Allen Memorial Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  6. [6] museum San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Used for: museum holdings.
  7. [7] wikidata Wikidata: Q44007 Used for: identifiers.
  8. [8] wikipedia Wikipedia: Paul Klee Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
  9. [9] book Susie Hodge, Artistic Circles Used for: biography.
  10. [10] book Susie Hodge, Artists and Their Pets Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
  11. [11] book Starr Figura, German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse Used for: biography, museum holdings.
  12. [12] book guggenheim-futurismmodernfo00solo Used for: biography, museum holdings.
  13. [13] book guggenheim-guhe00solo Used for: biography, museum holdings.
  14. [14] book guggenheim-museum00solo Used for: biography.
  15. [15] book guggenheim-paulklee1879klee Used for: biography.
  16. [16] book Penelope J.E. Davies, Walter B. Denny, Frima Fox Hofrichter, Joseph Jacobs, Ann S. Roberts, David L. Simon, Janson's History of Art_ The Western Tradition (8th Edition) Used for: biography.
  17. [17] book Paul Klee; Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Pedagogical Sketchbook Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
  18. [18] book Carol Strickland and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa _ba crash course in art history from prehistoric to post-modern _cCarol Strickland and John Boswell Used for: stylistic analysis.
  19. [19] book Carol Strickland and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa _ba crash course in art history from prehistoric to post-modern _cCarol Strickland and John Boswell_1 Used for: stylistic analysis.
  20. [20] book Carol Strickland and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa _ba crash course in art history from prehistoric to post-modern _cCarol Strickland and John Boswell_2 Used for: stylistic analysis.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-24. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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