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Artwork Details
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Title:Astrological Fantasy Portrait
Artist:Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
Date:1924
Medium:Gouache on paper, bordered with ink and gouache, mounted on cardboard
Dimensions:14 7/8 in. × 11 in. (37.8 × 27.9 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984
Object Number:1984.315.39
Inscription: Signed (center left): Klee; dated and inscribed on cardboard (lower center): 1924 159 Astrologisch-phantastisches Bildnis
Marking: Watermark (lower right): MBM
the artist (1924–40; on loan August 1924–February 1940 to the Pauline Grebe family, Jena; in 1940 to Bürgi); Rolf Bürgi, Bern (1940); Lily Klee, Bern (1940–46); Paul Klee Society, later Paul Klee Foundation, Bern (1946–47; sold to Nierendorf); [Karl Nierendorf, New York, 1947; his estate, 1947–48; sold in 1948 to Guggenheim]; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1948–73; on long term loan to various U. S. institutions, 1954–61; sold on December 7, 1973 to Haftmann); [Roswitha Haftmann (Galerie Modern Art), Zurich, from 1973]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1974–84; his gift to MMA)
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Paul Klee," February 12–May 5, 1987, unnumbered cat. (p. 200).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Paul Klee," June 24–August 16, 1987, unnumbered cat.
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. 190).
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. 201).
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. 201).
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. 45.
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.
Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Paul Klee Retrospective," April 2–May 23, 1993, no. 140.
Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Paul Klee Retrospective," June 1–July 25, 1993, no. 140.
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Paul Klee Retrospective," July 31–September 21, 1993, no. 140.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee in New York," July 26–December 1, 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Klee: Figures and Faces," August 23–November 16, 1997, no catalogue.
Turin. Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. "Paul Klee," October 26, 2000–January 7, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 106).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Figures," October 5, 2001–March 10, 2002, 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. "Klee: His Years at the Bauhaus (1921–1931)," November 19, 2004–April 3, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Made in Germany," May 22–October 14, 2007, 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.
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. 190–91, 283, 318, ill. (color and bw).
Ulrich Bischoff. Paul Klee. Munich, 1992, pp. 64, 173, colorpl. 34.
Anna-Maria Ehrmann-Schindlbeck et al., ed. Paul Klee in Jena 1924: Die Ausstellung. Exh. cat., Stadtmuseum Göhre. Jena, 1999, pp. 88–89, ill. (color).
Thomas Kain, Mona Meister, and Franz-Joachim Verspohl. "Eine Integrale Biographie Paul Klees. Der künstlerisch-intellektuelle und musikalisch-gesellige 'Lebenslauf Werklauf' Paul Klees zwischen 1921 und 1926." Paul Klee in Jena 1924: Der Vortrag. Gera, 1999, pp. 214–15 (August 5, 1924 list by Klee of his loans to the Grebe family), 312–13 (March 4, 1936 letter from Leo Grebe to Klee) , 318 (February 17, 1940 letter from Klee to Leo Grebe), publish documentation of Klee's loan of eight works, including this one, to the Grebe family in Jena, in August 1924; Grebe's 1936 letter indicates that this work is hanging in his brother, Karl's home; in 1940, Klee indicates that the works should be sent to their new owner, Rolf Bürgi
.
Anna-Maria Ehrmann-Schindlbeck inPaul Klee in Jena 1924: Die Ausstellung. Ed. Anna-Maria Ehrmann-Schindlbeck et al. Exh. cat., Stadtmuseum Göhre. Jena, 1999, pp. 300, 304–5, ill. p. 307 (installation photo of the Grebe family music room, Jena, with this work or MMA 1984.351 in the background).
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 4, 1923–1926. New York, 2000, p. 232, no. 3531, ill., as "Astrologisch-phantastisches Bildnis (Astrological-Fantastic Portrait)".
Paul Klee was unrivaled among his contemporaries in his wide-ranging experimentation with materials and unconventional techniques. Join scholar Charles W. Haxthausen as he explores the variety of Klee’s practice and reflects on its art-historical implications.
Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
1921
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