Inscription: Signed (lower right): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower left): 1917 29
the artist, Munich (1917–21; sold in February 1921 to Goltz); [Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Munich, from 1921]; Heinrich Stinnes, Cologne (until d. 1932; his estate, Cologne, 1932–38; his estate sale, Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, June 20–22, 1938, no. 519, sold to Valentin); [Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, 1938–at least 1942; stock no. 1188; probably sold to von Schlieder]; Karl L. von Schlieder, Denver (in 1950; on extended loan in 1950 to Denver Art Museum); [Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, until 1954; sold on March 20, 1954 to Schang]; Frederick C. Schang, South Norwalk and New York (1954–at least 1959); Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1981–84; his gift to MMA)
Berlin. Galerie Der Sturm. "Paul Klee. Gösta Adrian-Nilsson. Gabrielle Münter," December 1917, no. 24 (as "Triebkraft des Waldes").
Münchener Neue Secession. "IV. Ausstellung," June–October 1918, no. 73 (as "Aquarell," for sale).
Munich. Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz. "Paul Klee," May–June 1920, no. 124 (as "Triebkraft des Waldes"; for sale) [catalogue published in "Der Ararat" 2, May–June 1920, p. 22].
Jena, Germany. Kunst-Verein zu Jena. "Paul Klee," July 11–August 1, 1920, no. 15.
New York. Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin). "Paul Klee," November 1–26, 1938, no. 7 (as "The Power of Forest Growth," 1921).
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Paintings by Paul Klee and Mobiles and Stabiles by Alexander Calder," April 7–May 3, 1942, unnumbered cat. (as "Germinating Power of the Forest," 1921, lent by the Buchholz 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. 81).
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. 77).
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. 77).
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 Landscapes," November 20, 1997–February 8, 1998, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes by Klee and Kiefer," January 19–September 30, 2001, 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.
T[heodor]. D[äubler]. "Berliner Kunstsalons." Berliner Börsen-Courier no. 572 (December 7, 1917), supplement, p. 5.
H[ermann]. v[on]. Wedderkop. Paul Klee. Leipzig, 1920, unpaginated, ill.
"Accessions November 1949–May 1950." Denver Art Museum Summer Quarterly (1950), p. 18, calls it "Germinating Power of the Forest" and notes that it was lent to the museum by Karl Von Schlieder, Denver.
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, January 1, 1955, unpaginated brochure, no. 7, as "Germinating Power of the Forest".
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, April 1, 1957, unpaginated brochure, no. 7, as "Germinating Power of the Forest".
Paul Klee (1879–1940). Collection of F. C. Schang. New York, April 1, 1959, unpaginated brochure, no. 7.
Jürgen Glaesemer. Paul Klee. Die farbigen Werke im Kunstmuseum Bern: Gemälde, farbige Blätter, Hinterglasbilder und Plastiken. Bern, 1976, p. 145, ill., as location unknown.
Sara Lynn Henry. "Paul Klee, Nature, and Modern Science, the 1920s." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1976, p. 71, fig. 132, as "Germinating Power of the Woods," location unknown.
Sara Lynn Henry. "Form-Creating Energies. Paul Klee and Physics." Arts Magazine 52 (September 1977), p. 118, fig. 3, calls it "Germinating Power of the Woods," present location unknown.
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. 80–81, 273, 317, ill. (color and bw).
Anna-Maria Ehrmann-Schindlbeck et al., ed. Paul Klee in Jena 1924: Die Ausstellung. Exh. cat., Stadtmuseum Göhre. Jena, 1999, p. 142.
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. 378, no. 1713, ill., as "Triebkraft des Urwaldes (Germinating Power of the Virgin Forest)".
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1920
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