Paul Klee
The Fruit1932

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Abstract horizontal painting on coarse burlap, with nested oval forms in chocolate brown, olive green, and amber layered over a warm sandy ground

Artist or Maker: Paul Klee
Switzerland, 1879-1940
Title: The Fruit
Place Made: Switzerland
Date Made: 1932
Medium: Oil on jute
Dimensions: 22 1/16 × 28 1/8 in. (56.04 × 71.44 cm)
Credit Line: Partial, fractional and promised gift of Janice and Henri Lazarof
Accession Number: M.2005.70.60
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: From 1921 until 1931, Paul Klee was on the faculty of the Bauhaus, a revolutionary German art school that sought to unify art and craft. Klee, who taught a textile design course for the weaving workshop, began using raw cotton, jute, burlap, and silk in lieu of primed canvas for his paintings. His experimental paintings on undyed textiles produced works like The Fruit, in which the oil paint seeps into the visible weave of the coarse fabric. In this painting, Klee explores the connection between the visible and the invisible in an effort to visualize the ineffable, mystical unity of nature.
Provenance: The artist (1879-1940). [Alex Vömel, Düsseldorf]; [The Mayor Gallery, London 1934-35]; [Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Paris until 1939]; [Karl Nierendorf, Cologne/Berlin/NY until at least 1945]; [Curt Valentin, Buchholz Gallery and Valentin Gallery, Berlin/NY until 1948]; [Israel Ber Neumann, Graphisches Kabinettt, New Art Circle, Neumann Gallery, Berlin/NY until 1951]; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Berlin and Chicago; by inheritance to his daughter Marianne Lohan-van der Rohe (1915-2003), Chicago; [Sold at Christie’s, London, December 3, 1990, No. 40]; [to Galerie Beyeler, Basel]; [Nancy Whyte Fine Arts, New York]; sold in 1996 to Hansjörg Wyss (1942-), Paoli; [sold in 1997 to Galerie Beyeler, Basel]; sold in 1997 to Janice and Henri Lazarof, Los Angeles; given in 2005 to LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. "Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné." London: Thames and Hudson, 1998.
Barron, Stephanie. Envisioning Modernism: The Janice and Henri Lazarof Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2012.
Helfenstein, Josef, and Christian Rümelin, eds. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001.
Copyright: © Zentrum Paul Klee / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / PROLITTERIS, Switzerland

Related Unframed

Paul Klee
The Fruit1932

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Artist or Maker: Paul Klee
Switzerland, 1879-1940
Title: The Fruit
Place Made: Switzerland
Date Made: 1932
Medium: Oil on jute
Dimensions: 22 1/16 × 28 1/8 in. (56.04 × 71.44 cm)
Credit Line: Partial, fractional and promised gift of Janice and Henri Lazarof
Accession Number: M.2005.70.60
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: From 1921 until 1931, Paul Klee was on the faculty of the Bauhaus, a revolutionary German art school that sought to unify art and craft. Klee, who taught a textile design course for the weaving workshop, began using raw cotton, jute, burlap, and silk in lieu of primed canvas for his paintings. His experimental paintings on undyed textiles produced works like The Fruit, in which the oil paint seeps into the visible weave of the coarse fabric. In this painting, Klee explores the connection between the visible and the invisible in an effort to visualize the ineffable, mystical unity of nature.
Provenance: The artist (1879-1940). [Alex Vömel, Düsseldorf]; [The Mayor Gallery, London 1934-35]; [Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Paris until 1939]; [Karl Nierendorf, Cologne/Berlin/NY until at least 1945]; [Curt Valentin, Buchholz Gallery and Valentin Gallery, Berlin/NY until 1948]; [Israel Ber Neumann, Graphisches Kabinettt, New Art Circle, Neumann Gallery, Berlin/NY until 1951]; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Berlin and Chicago; by inheritance to his daughter Marianne Lohan-van der Rohe (1915-2003), Chicago; [Sold at Christie’s, London, December 3, 1990, No. 40]; [to Galerie Beyeler, Basel]; [Nancy Whyte Fine Arts, New York]; sold in 1996 to Hansjörg Wyss (1942-), Paoli; [sold in 1997 to Galerie Beyeler, Basel]; sold in 1997 to Janice and Henri Lazarof, Los Angeles; given in 2005 to LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. "Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné." London: Thames and Hudson, 1998.
Barron, Stephanie. Envisioning Modernism: The Janice and Henri Lazarof Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2012.
Helfenstein, Josef, and Christian Rümelin, eds. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001.
Copyright: © Zentrum Paul Klee / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / PROLITTERIS, Switzerland