Bowdoin College Museum of Art |

Preview image of work. gouache on cardboard , Gefecht (Battle) 12696

2000.25

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Gefecht (Battle)

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Artist

Paul Klee (Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, 12/18/1879 - 6/29/1940, Muralto, Switzerland)

Title

Gefecht (Battle)

Creation Date

1930

Century

20th century

Dimensions

14 1/4 in. x 18 13/16 in. (36.2 cm x 47.78 cm)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

Europe, Switzerland

Medium and Support

gouache on cardboard

Credit Line

Anonymous Gift

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2000.25

Paul Klee was an early member of the Blue Rider, a German Expressionist group founded by Vassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Inspired by medieval, African, and children’s art, the Blue Rider valued the expression of emotion, believing that art embodied and evoked the spiritual through formal qualities. This battle scene, created when both Klee and Kandinsky taught at the Bauhaus, is an example of Klee’s inventive use of line. Rather than choosing figurative representation, he draws animated lines to suggest fighters in motion, recreating his motif “parallel” to nature. As a collection of overlapping, transparent, striped quadrangles, the combatants can be identified by their line-drawn feet. The carnal destruction is evident by the red specks underneath the bodies. Klee was a relentless experimenter who combined unorthodox and at times unstable materials. This work was conserved and losses filled in at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center.