Paul Klee
In the Kairouan Style, Transposed in a Moderate Way1914

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Horizontal abstract watercolor painting with vertical rectangular color bands in coral, pink, lavender, green, teal, and yellow, punctuated by three circular forms

Artist or Maker: Paul Klee
Switzerland, 1879-1940
Title: In the Kairouan Style, Transposed in a Moderate Way
Place Made: Switzerland
Date Made: 1914
Medium: Watercolor and pencil on paper on bristol board
Dimensions: 5 11/16 x 8 7/16 in. (14.5 x 21.5 cm)
Credit Line: Partial, fractional and promised gift of Janice and Henri Lazarof
Accession Number: M.2005.70.51
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Just before the outbreak of World War I, Paul Klee traveled to Tunisia, then under French colonial rule. Deeply impressed by the glowing light and intense colors of this North African country, Klee painted his first fully abstract works, including this watercolor and Motion of a Landscape. He translated his experience of the desert landscape into planes of color and geo- metric forms, establishing a structural framework that would remain important to him, even when he later returned to figuration. Here, Klee played with a technique of Japanese ink wash painting, in which diluted ink is applied in transparent layers, producing a semi-transparent wash. The success of these watercolors convinced Klee, previously insecure in his use of paint, that he could and should again engage with oil painting.
The geometric framework developed here would remain important to the artist, even as he returned to figuration in his art. Klee joined the Bauhaus faculty in 1921 and taught at the school until 1931, working as the form master for the bookbinding, stained glass, and mural painting workshops.
Provenance: The artist (1879-1940). Otto Ralfs, Braunschweig, 1931–1932; Lily Klee, Bern, 1940–1946; Klee-Gesellschaft, Bern, 1946–1949; [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, 1948–1949]; [Israel Ber Neumann, Berlin and New York, from 1949]; Peter G. Neumann, Palo Alto, until 1986; Irma Rudin, United States; William Pall, New York; [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne]; sold in 1993 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.

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Paul Klee
In the Kairouan Style, Transposed in a Moderate Way1914

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Artist or Maker: Paul Klee
Switzerland, 1879-1940
Title: In the Kairouan Style, Transposed in a Moderate Way
Place Made: Switzerland
Date Made: 1914
Medium: Watercolor and pencil on paper on bristol board
Dimensions: 5 11/16 x 8 7/16 in. (14.5 x 21.5 cm)
Credit Line: Partial, fractional and promised gift of Janice and Henri Lazarof
Accession Number: M.2005.70.51
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Just before the outbreak of World War I, Paul Klee traveled to Tunisia, then under French colonial rule. Deeply impressed by the glowing light and intense colors of this North African country, Klee painted his first fully abstract works, including this watercolor and Motion of a Landscape. He translated his experience of the desert landscape into planes of color and geo- metric forms, establishing a structural framework that would remain important to him, even when he later returned to figuration. Here, Klee played with a technique of Japanese ink wash painting, in which diluted ink is applied in transparent layers, producing a semi-transparent wash. The success of these watercolors convinced Klee, previously insecure in his use of paint, that he could and should again engage with oil painting.
The geometric framework developed here would remain important to the artist, even as he returned to figuration in his art. Klee joined the Bauhaus faculty in 1921 and taught at the school until 1931, working as the form master for the bookbinding, stained glass, and mural painting workshops.
Provenance: The artist (1879-1940). Otto Ralfs, Braunschweig, 1931–1932; Lily Klee, Bern, 1940–1946; Klee-Gesellschaft, Bern, 1946–1949; [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, 1948–1949]; [Israel Ber Neumann, Berlin and New York, from 1949]; Peter G. Neumann, Palo Alto, until 1986; Irma Rudin, United States; William Pall, New York; [Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne]; sold in 1993 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.

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November 29, 2023
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September 6, 2023
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