Voralpine Landschaft

Details

Paul Klee (1879-1940)
Voralpine Landschaft
signed ‘Klee’ (lower left)
oil on paper
7 x 10 7/8 in. (17 x 27.5 cm.)
Executed in 1937

Provenance

with Galerie Simon [Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler], Paris, 1938.
with Nierendorf Galleries, New York (no. 843), from 1938.
J. B. Neumann, New York.
Eric Ponder, New York.
Galerie Berggruen & Cie, Paris, by whom acquired from the above in 1962.
James Wise, Geneva & New York & Nice, by whom acquired from the above in 1962.
Anonymous sale, Galerie Motte, Geneva, 1 November 1963, lot 119.
Anonymous sale, Galerie Motte, Geneva, 5 December 1964, lot 74.
Brook Street Gallery, London.
Private collection, by whom acquired from the above in 1966.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2003.

Literature

The artist's handlist, no. 11.
The Paul Klee Foundation, ed., Paul Klee, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. VII, 1934-1938, Bern, 2003, no. 6947, p. 219 (illustrated).

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Simon, Paul Klee, oevres récentes, January - February 1938, no. 38.
New York, Nierendorf Galleries, Paul Klee, A Choice Collection of the Master’s Work, October – November 1938, no. 58.
Geneva, Galerie du Perron, Paul Klee, July – August 1965, no. 26.
London, Brook Street Gallery, Klee, June – September 1966, no 31.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Sale room notice

Please note this work is not subject to Artist's Resale Right.

Brought to you by

Annie Wallington

awallington@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2638

Lot Essay

1937 marked an energetic return to art-making for Paul Klee, having suffered illness in the years immediately prior which had affected his ability to paint and draw. Voralpine Landschaft depicts a rolling alpine landscape, such as those Klee might have visited for treatment around this time whilst he was living in Switzerland. Its harmonious yet dynamic aspect, with complimentary pastel colours bearing a cluster of pine trees in the background, employs Klee's distinctive line as a serpentine curve to direct the eye. This scene is at odds with the chaos that surrounded the artist towards the end of his life; the rise of Fascism that would see the confiscation of many of his own artworks for the Degenerate Exhibition in Germany this same year was occurring simultaneously to his declining health. In this sense, the extraordinary optimism and imagination of Klee's earlier work remains apparent here, attesting to his resilience at this time in the face of difficulty.

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