Provenance
The artist's wife, Lily Klee (1876-1946), Bern [Paul Klee Foundation 2001]; Klee-Gesellschaft, Bern, to 1949 [Paul Klee Foundation 2001]. Curt Valentin, Berlin and New York, 1949 [Paul Klee Foundation 2001]. Clifford Odets, New York and Los Angeles, to 1954 [Paul Klee Foundation 2001]. Sold by Saidenberg Gallery, Inc., New York, to Clare Hoover, 1954 [Paul Klee Foundation 2001]; bequeathed by the Clare Hoover Trust to the Art Institute, 1998.
Accession Number
149015
Medium
Pen and black and brown ink and graphite with smudging on off-white wove paper, laid down on ivory wove card.
Dimensions
Primary support: 33.6 × 21 cm (13 1/4 × 8 5/16 in.); Secondary support: 63.7 × 46.5 cm (25 1/8 × 18 5/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Credit Line
Bequest of the Clare Hoover Trust
Background & Context
Background Story
Paul Klee's Portrait of Mrs. Bl. is a portrait of a woman transformed through Klee's vocabulary of abstract forms and signs. Klee's portraits capture something essential about the sitter while remaining within his personal style.
Cultural Impact
Klee's abstract portraits challenge conventional portraiture while capturing the essence of the subject.
Why It Matters
This portrait of Mrs. Bl. captures the sitter's essence through Klee's characteristic abstract vocabulary.
