Description
In this watercolor, acrobats and circus jugglers emerge from a complex pattern of shapes and colors. Two jugglers share a face and torso. A member of Der Blaue Reiter group in Munich, Paul Klee believed that the elements of color and shape alone could carry connotations of emotions, moods, and subjective feelings. His method was to begin painting without a subject, only settling upon something that could be recognized after layering colored form upon colored form.
Provenance
"This work was found in the estate of a young graphic designer after his death in 1944. This young man must have been a personal acquaintance of Klee's." (letter from Doris Ryser of Karl u. Faber in departmental file); [Karl u. Faber, Munich, Dec. 11-12, 1968, lot no. 957]; [E.V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York]
Accession Number
1969.46
Medium
watercolor
Dimensions
Sheet: 24 x 23.5 cm (9 7/16 x 9 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 34.5 x 29.3 cm (13 9/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art
