Inscription: Signed (upper left): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower left): 1920.62
the artist (1920–d. 1940); his widow, Lily Klee, Bern (1940–46); Paul Klee Society, later Paul Klee Foundation, Bern (1946–probably until 1953; on consignment 1950–probably until 1953, as "Ohne Titel", to Buchholz Gallery [Curt Valentin], New York); Benjamin Baldwin, New York, Chicago, and East Hampton (from 1953); [Donald Young Gallery, Chicago]; [Xavier Fourcade, New York, from 1982]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1983–84; his gift to MMA)
Berlin. Kronprinzenpalais, Nationalgalerie. "Paul Klee," February 1923, no catalogue.
New York. Curt Valentin Gallery. "Paul Klee," September 29–October 24, 1953, no. 47 (as "'62'").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Klee Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 6–July 31, 1988, unnumbered cat. (p. 113).
Kunsthalle Tübingen. "Paul Klee: Die Sammlung Berggruen im Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York und im Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris," January 22–April 16, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 113).
London. Tate Gallery. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris," May 17–August 13, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 113).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Of Men and Women," opened March 27, 1990, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Humor of Klee," May 14 or 15–October 4, 1992, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee in Munich," January 12–July 21, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Figures and Faces," August 23–November 16, 1997, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 20, 1997–February 8, 1998, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee's Line," March 18–July 9, 2000, no catalogue.
London. Hayward Gallery. "Paul Klee: The Nature of Creation," January 17–April 1, 2002, no. 14.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee the Voyager," February 4–May 4, 2003, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Creatures," December 12, 2003–March 14, 2004, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," October 4, 2005–January 9, 2006, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee: Path to Abstraction," April 9–August 4, 2013, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Humor and Fantasy: The Berggruen Paul Klee Collection," September 1, 2016–January 2, 2017, no catalogue.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Paul Klee: The Berggruen Collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 16, 2018–March 17, 2019, no catalogue.
Will Grohmann. Paul Klee. New York, [1954], p. 412, no. 132, ill. p. 159, as "Unhorsed and Bewitched Rider," in a private collection, U. S. A.
Pierre-Henri Gonthier, ed. Paul Klee: Theorie de l'art moderne. Basel, [1964], ill. front cover.
Christina Kröll. "Die Bildtitel Paul Klees: Eine Studie zur Beziehung von Bild und Sprache in der Kunst des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts." PhD diss., Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, 1968, p. 31.
James Smith Pierce. Paul Klee and Primitive Art. PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. New York, 1976, pp. 46–47.
Sara Lynn Henry. "Paul Klee, Nature, and Modern Science, the 1920s." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1976, p. 105, fig. 172, calls it "Unhorsed and Bewitched Rider" and locates it in a private collection, United States.
Mark Lawrence Rosenthal. "Paul Klee and the Arrow." PhD diss., University of Iowa, 1979, pp. 122–23, fig. 98, calls it "Unhorsed and Bewitched Rider"; interprets the title as a sexual metaphor.
Sabine Rewald. Paul Klee: The Berggruen Klee Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1988, pp. 112–13, 115, 276, 317, ill. (color and bw).
K[athryn]. Porter Aichele. "Paul Klee's 'Rhythmisches': A Recapitulation of the Bauhaus Years." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 57, no. 1 (1994), p. 89, calls it "Unhorsed and Bewitched"; states that after failing to get a teaching position in Stuttgart, in this drawing "Klee appropriated the stoical knight from Dürer's 'Knight, Death and the Devil' as a personal symbol of perserverance over professional adversity".
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 3, 1919–1922. New York, 1999, p. 197, no. 2407, ill.
Roland März inPicasso and His Time. Ed. Hans-Jürgen Papies et al. 6th enl. ed. (1st ed., 1996). Berlin, 2013, p. 280, ill., calls it "Rider unhorsed off and bewitched"; cites it as an example of Klee's feeling of resurgence and connection to nature after surviving the war.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
