Details
PAUL KLEE (1879-1940)
Sollte Steigen
signé 'Klee' (en bas à droite)
huile et aquarelle sur toile préparée au gesso
59.5 x 86.6 cm. (23 3/8 x 34 1/8 in.)
Peint en 1932
Provenance
Galerie Flechtheim, Berlin (acquis auprès de l'artiste, 1932).
Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Paris (1934).
Israel Ber Neumann Gallery, New York (vers 1934).
Galerie Berggruen & Cie., Paris.
Sir Edward and Lady Nika Hulton, Londres.
Galerie Beyeler, Bâle.
Hans et Anna Grether, Bâle (acquis auprès de celle-ci, 1973).
Galerie Beyeler, Bâle (acquis auprès de ceux-ci).
Galerie Tarica, Paris (acquis auprès de celle-ci, 1981).
Acquis auprès de celle-ci par Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé, octobre 1983.
Literature
D.-H. Kahnweiler, Paul Klee, Paris, 1950 (illustré en couleur; titré 'Peut venir').
H. Berggruen, L'univers de Klee, Paris, 1955 (illustré en couleur).
N. Hulton, An Approach to Paul Klee, Londres, 1956, p. 59 (illustré).
M. Huggler, "Die Farbe bei Paul Klee", in Palette, no. 25, 1967, p. 7.
C. Müller, Das Zeichen in Bild und Theorie bei Paul Klee, Munich, 1979, p. 81.
M.L. Rosenthal, Paul Klee and the Arrow, Iowa City, 1979, pp. 114-116.
S.L. Henry, Paul Klee's Pictorial Mechanics from Physics to the Picture Plane, 1989, p. 161.
The Paul Klee Foundation, éd., Paul Klee, catalogue raisonné, Berne, 2002, vol. VI, p. 230, no. 5828 (illustré).
J. Coignard, "Chez Pierre Bergé et Yves Saint Laurent", in Connaissance des Arts, no. 634, janvier 2006, p. 48 (illustré en couleur).
Exhibited
Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Lebendige deutsche Kunst, décembre 1932-janvier 1933, no. 52.
Ostende, Palais des Thermes, Gloires de la peinture moderne. Hommage à James Ensor, juillet-août 1949, no. 93.
Francfort, Galerie Buchheim-Milton, Paul Klee. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Graphik, novembre 1950, no. 8.
New York, Curt Valentin Gallery, Paul Klee, septembre-octobre 1953, no. 25 (illustré).
Londres, The Tate Gallery; York, City Art Gallery (no. 26) et Chicago, The Arts Club, Works by Paul Klee from the Collection of Mrs. Edward Hulton, mai 1955-décembre 1956, no. 31.
Wuppertal, Kunst und Museumsverein; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans van Beuningen; Frankfurter Kunstverein; Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus et Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall, Sammlung Sir Edward und Lady Hulton, London, 1964-1965, no. 96.
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Sammlung Sir Edward und Lady Hulton London, décembre 1967-janvier 1968, p. 22, no. 98.
Bâle, Galerie Beyeler, Klee "Kunst ist ein Schpfungsgleichnis", septembre-novembre 1973, no. 60.
Paris, Galerie Karl Flinker, Klee. 74 oeuvres de 1908 à 1940, mars-mai 1974, no. 74.
Cologne, Kunsthalle, Paul Klee: Das Werk der Jahre 1919-1933, Gemälde, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik, avril-juin 1979, p. 132, no. 349 (illustré, p. 326).
Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Klee: Oleos, acuarelas, dibujos y grabados, mars-mai 1981, no. 61.
Special Notice
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Further Details
'SHOULD RISE'; SIGNED LOWER RIGHT; OIL AND WATERCOLOUR ON GESSOED CANVAS.
Through his lessons at the Bauhaus on "creative mechanics" or "stylistic theory" (Bildnerische Mechanik oder Stillehre), Paul Klee established a veritable cosmogony of movement in 1924. Applied to understanding the dynamics and balance governing the celestial and terrestrial, whether on the ground, in the water, or in the air,1 this study drew on basic laws of physics combined with romantic Naturphilosophie and focused on instating movement as a core principle in any work of art.
While Klee borrowed certain iconographic concepts from the exact sciences such as diagrams, scales, arrows, trajectories and parallelograms of force, he would also attempt to bring the questions of dynamics into play. Towards the end of the 1920s, the study of movement in air became increasingly important and can be quantified in Sollte steigen (Should rise), where questions of gravity - starting with the title which alludes to a potential, yet conditional ascension - are illustrated through different motifs and symbols, such as the arrow and balloon. Conveying a driving force that has achieved a stable upward equilibrium, these symbols are contrasted with the transparent three-dimensional geometric structure - kite-like in appearance - that seems to be subjected to significantly more anarchic, even unstable forces. Tossed back and forth by the winds in continuous oscillation, this multifaceted vessel is subject to gravitational forces, signified by the earthy tones of the composition, as if constantly on the verge of being crushed.
Indeed, Klee believed that total freedom of movement in the air remained subject to the material constraints of gravity. On a deeper level, it is because man, while being free to envisage moving in physical and metaphysical space, is held back by his own physical limitations. This, according to Klee, was "the origin of all human tragedy"2. As a result, creative force, for all of its indescribable mysteriousness, is forever subject to the constraints of the medium.
Notes (English):
1 S.L. Henry, "Paul Klee's Pictorial Mechanics from Physics dot the Picture Plane", in Pantheon, vol. 67, 1989, pp. 147-165.
2 P. Klee, Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch, Mainz, 1965, p. 44: "Die ideelle Fähigkeit des Menschen Irdisches und Überirdisches beliebig zu durchmessen, ist im Gegensatz zu seiner physischen Ohnmacht der Ursprung der menschlischen Tragik."
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