Rock-Cut Temple

Description

A professor at the Bauhaus from 1920 to 1933, Klee often experimented with the systemic use of line. One of Klee’s favored theories, that of the distinction between form and formation through the use of line, is demonstrated here. In this drawing, parallel lines create new architectural structures, highlighting the formative power of the artist and his line. For Klee, the end result, the form, was not important; the act of creation and the limitless possibilities of line were what mattered.

Provenance

Private collection, Milan; private collection; sold, Sotheby's, London, June 26, 2008, lot 220, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg, Brookline, MA; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.

Rock-Cut Temple

Paul Klee

December 30, 1925

Accession Number

198872

Medium

Pen and black ink on buff laid paper, laid down on artist's mount comprised of cream wove card ruled in pen and black ink

Dimensions

Sheet: 16.4 × 26.9 cm (6 1/2 × 10 5/8 in.); Mount: 24.2 × 34.6 cm (9 9/16 × 13 5/8 in.)

Classification

prints and drawing

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection