Lot Essay
The theme of magic was obviously a concern of Klee's in 1920 since he executed another drawing in the same year titled Magisches Experiment (1920, 54; J. Glaesemer, Paul Klee Handzeichnungen I, Berne, 1973, no. 664, p. 277) depicting a less abstract figure and a watercolour over oil drawing entitled Tintawa (ein Magier) 1920, 48 (Glaesmer, loc. cit., p. 258) where the figure is more geometrised as in Schwarzmagier.
"Whereas Klee, before his trip to Kairouan, had restricted himself to the simplest tools and material, he now began to pay attention to technical values. He employed papers of different grains, rarely handmade and Japanese papers; he painted on linen, muslin, and shirting, on wood and pasteboard, and even before 1920 on paper stuck on linen. For the sizing or ground, besides the usual materials, he employed chalk and stucco. On the chalk base the pigments occasionally present a mat surface and give an almost fresco effect; on the stucco base, especially when it is thick, weathered effects are obtained which contrast strikingly with the bright glazes. Klee used watercolours, tempera and oils; also watercolours and oils combined, most frequently in a technique in which he imprinted the design in oil paint on a watercolour ground, obtaining a tense, two-layer effect. Sometimes he chalks the design on the watercolour ground, as in the printing process, giving rise to enlivening counter-drawn patches and extremely loose and differentiated livework." (W. Grohmann, Paul Klee, London, 1954, p. 160).
'On October 1 1919, he signed a three-year contract with Hans Goltz for the purchase of all his work, and later extended this contract through October 1, 1925...In the spring of 1920 Goltz organised a retrospective show of Klee's work which included [besides the present work] 37 paintings, 212 watercolours, 79 drawings, the whole of his etched works and a few sculptures. The exhibition created something of a sensation in Munich. Soon afterwards H. von Wedderkop published a small monograph on Klee, as did Leopold Zahn." (ibid, p. 62).
This work is recorded in the artist's werkverzeichnis as follows: 1920/13/A/Schwarzmagier/aquarellierte Olfarbenzeichnung/Kreidegrund
"Whereas Klee, before his trip to Kairouan, had restricted himself to the simplest tools and material, he now began to pay attention to technical values. He employed papers of different grains, rarely handmade and Japanese papers; he painted on linen, muslin, and shirting, on wood and pasteboard, and even before 1920 on paper stuck on linen. For the sizing or ground, besides the usual materials, he employed chalk and stucco. On the chalk base the pigments occasionally present a mat surface and give an almost fresco effect; on the stucco base, especially when it is thick, weathered effects are obtained which contrast strikingly with the bright glazes. Klee used watercolours, tempera and oils; also watercolours and oils combined, most frequently in a technique in which he imprinted the design in oil paint on a watercolour ground, obtaining a tense, two-layer effect. Sometimes he chalks the design on the watercolour ground, as in the printing process, giving rise to enlivening counter-drawn patches and extremely loose and differentiated livework." (W. Grohmann, Paul Klee, London, 1954, p. 160).
'On October 1 1919, he signed a three-year contract with Hans Goltz for the purchase of all his work, and later extended this contract through October 1, 1925...In the spring of 1920 Goltz organised a retrospective show of Klee's work which included [besides the present work] 37 paintings, 212 watercolours, 79 drawings, the whole of his etched works and a few sculptures. The exhibition created something of a sensation in Munich. Soon afterwards H. von Wedderkop published a small monograph on Klee, as did Leopold Zahn." (ibid, p. 62).
This work is recorded in the artist's werkverzeichnis as follows: 1920/13/A/Schwarzmagier/aquarellierte Olfarbenzeichnung/Kreidegrund