Inscription: Signed (center right): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower left): 1914 147
[Galerie der Sturm, Berlin, until 1920; sold in September 1920 to Dreier]; Katherine S. Dreier, New York and Connecticut (1920–49; sold in 1949, through Rose Fried Gallery, New York, for $250); [Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, until 1955; stock no. 18155; sold in 1955 to Harrison]; Wallace K. Harrison, New York (from 1955); [Harold Diamond, New York]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1981–84; his gift to MMA)
Munich. Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz. "Frühjahrausstellung. Beeh, Grossmann, Kars, Klee, Lehmbruck, Nowak, Purrmann, Seewald, Stein. Graphische Ausstellung "Der Krieg"," April 1915, no. 36 (as "Farbige Zeichnung").
Munich. Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz. "Paul Klee," May–June 1920, no. 84 [catalogue published in "Der Ararat" 2, May–June 1920, p. 22].
Berlin. Der Sturm. "Reinhard Goering. Paul Klee. Gesamtschau," September 1920, no. 83.
New York. Société Anonyme. "8th Exhibition. Schwitters, Campendonk, Paul Klee, Molzahn, Tour Donas, Stuckenberg," March 15–April 12, 1921, no catalogue.
New York. Curt Valentin Gallery. "Der Blaue Reiter," December 7, 1954–January 8, 1955, no. 27 (as "Composition").
Cambridge, Mass. Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University. "Artists of the Blaue Reiter," January 21–February 24, 1955, no. 31 (as "Composition," lent by the Curt Valentin Gallery).
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. 71).
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. 65).
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. 65).
Mexico City. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo. "Paul Klee: Selección de sesenta obras. The Berggruen Klee Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1989–January 1990, no. 4.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee in Munich," January 12–July 21, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Abstract," September 5–December 7, 2003, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "XS," December 6, 2011–April 15, 2012, 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.
Robert L. Herbert, Eleanor S. Apter, and Elise K. Kenney, ed. The Société Anonyme and the Dreier Bequest at Yale University: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, 1984, p. 772, notes that in Dreier's list of her collection, this work was called "Mit der sinkenden Sonne".
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. 70–71, 272, 317, ill. (color and bw).
Phyllis Williams Lehmann. "A Roman Source for Klee's 'Athlete's Head'." Art Bulletin 72 (December 1990), p. 646 n. 39.
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 2, 1913–1918. New York, 2000, p. 188, no. 1247, ill.
Vivian Endicott Barnett inKlee and America. Ed. Josef Helfenstein and Elizabeth Hutton Turner. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie, New York. Houston, 2006, p. 31, states that Dreier purchased six Klees, including this one, from the Galerie der Sturm in 1920 and then exhibited them at the Société Anonyme in 1921, the first American presentation of Klee's works.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
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