Paul
Klee was
born in Munchenbuchsee, Switzerland in 1879. He studied art at the
Munich Academy of Fine Art (1898-1901) and later became associated
with the Blaue Reiter group. Artists in the group believed that they
had a responsibility to "heal the gaping wound that separates
man from his environment".
Klee was living in Germany during the First
World War and in 1916 was called up by the German
Army. He was not sent to the front-line
and spent some of his time painting aeroplanes. His war experiences
appeared in his book, Diaries: 1898-1918.
After the Armistice Klee taught at
the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau. Klee was a brilliant and undogmatic
teacher and a stimulating writer on art. The most important book Klee
wrote during this period was, Pedagogical
Stetchbook (1925).
With the emergence of Adolf Hitler and
the Nazi Party in Germany, Klee returned
to Switzerland. A large number of his paintings on display in Germany
were confiscated by the Nazis as degenerate. The growth of fascism
in Europe affected Klee badly and he began to suffer from acute depression.
In 1935 Klee developed scleroderma, a rare debilitating disease. Paul
Klee died in 1940.
| Paul
Klee, Structural II (1934) |
(1)
Paul
Klee, diary entry (6th March, 1916)
Singing instructions are
no longer given by the clear-voiced sergeant, but by Corporal Bruckner.
A neat man with a slight squint that doesn't look bad. First we all
read the text together, then he sings the first stanza, fearfully
off-key, so that our ears cringe. Then we sing it. Today we learned
a horrible piece of trash called 'Flag Song'. I am living with apes.
I realize this seeing them take this unadulterated rubbish with such
seriousness.
(2) Paul
Klee, diary entry (6th December, 1916)
A battalion from the Somme marches up with music, an overwhelming
sight. Everything yellow with mud. The unmilitary, matter-of-fact
appearance, the steel helmets, the equipment. The trotting step. Nothing
heroic, just like beasts of burden, like slaves. Against a background
of circus music.
(3)
Paul
Klee, diary entry (21st February, 1918)
This week we had three fatal casualties; one man was smashed by the
propeller, the other two crashed from the air! Yesterday, a fourth
came ploughing with a loud bang into the roof of the workshop. Had
been flying too low, caught on a telephone pole, bounced on the roof
of the factory, turned a somersault, and collapsed upside down in
a heap of wreckage.
(4)
Paul
Klee, diary entry (2nd November, 1918)
The Reich stands all alone now, armed to the teeth and yet so hopeless!
We would now have an opportunity to be an example of how a people
should endure its downfall. But if the masses go into action, what
then?
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