With the Dot

Description

Paul Klee made this drawing during World War I. It shows a hovering figure, who could be saintly or demonic, overlooking a scene that includes a zeppelin, a decapitated child, a fallen soldier, and a recoiling (or attacking) figure. The soldier’s helmet displays a handle, implying the mechanized or dehumanized war machine. Klee’s title for the drawing includes the depiction of a point (•), which refers to the circular zeppelin or circle that frequently appeared in his drawings as a menacing omen. In 1915 Klee wrote: “The more horrifying this world becomes the more art becomes abstract; while a world at peace produces realistic art.”

Provenance

Galerie Rosengart, Lucern (old label in file; stamped, verso, lower center, in purple ink: GALERIE ROSENGART / LUZERN). Frederick C. Shang, South Norwalk, Connecticut (old label in file); Eugene Victor Thaw (departmental catalog sheet); [The New Gallery, New York] (old label in file)

With the Dot

Paul Klee

1916

Accession Number

1961.50

Medium

pen and black ink

Dimensions

Sheet: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Secondary Support: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Tertiary Support: 24.4 x 31.9 cm (9 5/8 x 12 9/16 in.)

Classification

Drawing

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art