I’ve been a fan of the work of Paul Klee for some time now. Whenever I would stumble across his work in museums, I would immediately feel a sense of kinship with his work. His work is always the obvious product of his mind and seems unfettered by what might be expected by outside forces.
Much of his work is on paper and is smallish in size compared to many of the pieces that often surround them in museums, giving the work a very intimate, warm feel. I feel like I’m privy to some quiet secret when I see his work. Maybe it has to do with the way his paintings combine music and form, creating that elusive rhythm of which I often write. I also love the grit within his colors and how he sometimes segments his work into small boxes of color, a technique that I adopt at different times in my painting.
Many categorize his work as whimsical but I have to somewhat disagree. Granted there is sometimes an appearance of lightness in his work, but I see his work as very serious but with a distant and different perspective than the norm. If you get a chance, take a look at the work of Paul Klee. You’ll be glad you found him…
Redtree Times 
Please help me if you can! I am looking for information (interpretation, etc.) of Klee’s painting, which is entitled “Senecio” (at the end of your blog piece).
Thanks for any help!
Hi, Mark-
From what I understand the title “Senecio” refers to the botanical name for a genus of plants that includes ragwort and other plants with round flower heads. One interpretation is that there is a parallel between the flower being the crowning glory of a plant and the human face being the flower of tthe human body.
Another interpretation is based on the title being based on the Latin “senex” which means “old man.” There may be something to this, with the roundness of the face denoting the transformation of youth into old age .
Then again, maybe it’s just meant to spur our imaginations. Your guess or interpretation is as good as any…
Thanks!
I love Paul Klee! I think he is one of the most under rated painters of his time. After all, he influenced the likes of Picasso, to name but one.
Yes, you’re right. He is wildly underrated and his work remains as contemporary today as it did in his own time. Great work…
I’ve always been a big fan of Klee’s work. He was a bridge between representational art and purely abstract art.
I’m not sure how someone can say he is underrated when he is considered a modern master, is in all the art history books and who’s work hangs in all the great museums around the world in the world. He may not be rated as highly as Picasso. That is because Picasso is a more important artist.
Of course you’re a pretty good artist yourself.
Perhaps underrated is the wrong term in this case. When I say underrated, I mean that his work and his name is not well known to the general public. Yes, he achieved acclaim within the art world but his fame never really reached out into the wider populace as did others such as Picasso. But it was great work and your comment as it being a bridge is spot on.
Thanks for the comment!
He is one of my all time favorites, especially his watercolors. You can see that he was a violinist and a poet as well. Some of my all time favorites: “Ambassador of Autumn;” “Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber;” and “Ancient Sound.” The names alone are poetry, and if you know these paintings you can feel the music in them.