Inscription: Signed, dated and inscribed (verso, upper stretcher): 1936. K 2. "betroffene Stadt" Klee
the artist, Bern (1936–d. 1940); his widow, Lily Klee, Bern (1940–42); Dr. Wilhelm Löffler, Zurich (1942–72); Peter Löffler, Zurich (1972–76); [Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, 1976]; Heinz Berggruen, Paris and Berlin (1976–87; on loan to MMA, 1984–87; his gift to MMA)
Kunsthalle Bern. "Gedächtnisausstellung Paul Klee," November 9–December 8, 1940, no. 47 (as for sale, SFr 1,500).
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Ausländische Kunst in Zürich," July 25–September 26, 1943, no. 581.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Paul Klee: Leben und Werk," September 25, 1987–January 3, 1988, no. 233.
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. 251).
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. 261).
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. 261).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Late Klee," December 6, 1996–April 13, 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 Cities," June 22–September 5, 1999, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Paintings," September 14, 1999–March 12, 2000, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cityscapes by Klee and Feininger," September 25, 2002–January 26, 2003, no catalogue.
Basel. Fondation Beyeler. "Paul Klee—Die Erfüllung im Spätwerk (Paul Klee—Fulfillment in the Late Work)," August 10–November 9, 2003, no. 20.
Sprengel Museum Hannover. "Paul Klee—Tod und Feuer. Die Erfüllung im Spätwerk (Paul Klee—Death and Fire. Fulfillment in the Late Work)," November 23, 2003–February 15, 2004, no. 20.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee: The Late Years," March 19–June 27, 2004, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Klee Landscapes," November 1, 2005–March 5, 2006, no catalogue.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Das Universum Klee / The Klee Universe," October 31, 2008–February 8, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p. 321; as "Betroffene Stadt [Affected Town]").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Late Klee," October 18, 2012–March 31, 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.
Carola Giedion-Welcker. "Bildinhalte und Ausdrucksmittel bei Paul Klee." Werk 35 (March 1948), p. 85, ill., calls it "Betroffene Stadt (Menace sur la ville/ A Town Struck)" and locates it in a private collection, Zurich.
Carola Giedion-Welcker. Paul Klee. New York, 1952, pp. 64, 103, 119, 143, colorpl. VII, calls it "Stricken Town" and locates it in the collection of Dr. W. Loeffler, Zurich.
Andrew Forge. Klee (1879–1940). Vol. 2, London, 1954, pp. 5, 18, colorpl. 8, calls it "Stricken Town," in the collection of Dr. W. Loefler [sic], Zurich.
Will Grohmann. Paul Klee. New York, [1954], p. 257, calls it "Stricken Town".
Gualtieri di San Lazzaro. Klee: A Study of His Life and Work. New York, 1957, p. 298, no. 114, ill. p. 275, as "Stricken Town," in the collection of Dr. W. Loeffler, Zurich.
Jürg Spiller, ed. Paul Klee: The Thinking Eye. The Notebooks of Paul Klee. New York, 1961, pp. 242, 408 [German ed., Basel, 1956], calls it "Afflicted City".
Carola Giedion-Welcker. Paul Klee in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1961, pp. 125–26, ill.
Joachim Büchner. "Zu den Gemälden und Aquarellen von Paul Klee im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum." Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch 24 (1962), p. 371 n. 35.
Christian Geelhaar. Paul Klee and the Bauhaus. Bath, 1973, p. 52, calls it "Afflicted City".
Andeheinz Mösser. Die Problem der Bewegung bei Paul Klee. PhD diss.Heidelberg, 1976, p. 97 n. 14, dates it 1926.
Sara Lynn Henry. "Paul Klee, Nature, and Modern Science, the 1920s." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1976, p. 120, fig. 215, calls it "Stricken Town" and erroneously locates it still in the collection of Dr. W. Loeffler, Zurich.
Andeheinz Mösser. "Pfeile bei Paul Klee." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 39 (1977), p. 230 n. 18, dates it 1937.
K[athryn]. Porter Aichele. "Paul Klee's Operatic Themes and Variations." Art Bulletin 68 (September 1986), pp. 453–54, fig. 5, calls it "Stricken Town" and erroneously locates it still in a private collection, Zurich; compares the composition of this picture to musical notations and suggests the influence of Kurt Weill's opera "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny".
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, p. 123, colorpl. 102.
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. 250–51, 268–69, 288, 319, ill. (color and bw, recto and verso), comments that the black arrow pointing downward symbolizes bad luck in Klee's oeuvre; suggests that Klee's recently diagnosed illness and the political situation in Europe influenced the "more somber themes predominate" in his work from this year; reproduces the image found beneath a layer of yellow paint on the verso.
John Russell. "Playful Images Rich in Riddles by Paul Klee at the Met." New York Times (May 6, 1988), p. C30.
Ulrich Bischoff. Paul Klee. Munich, 1992, pp. 118, 173, colorpl. 78.
Peter-Klaus Schuster inKlee aus New York: Hauptwerke der Sammlung Berggruen im Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Sammlung Berggruen. Berlin, 1998, p. 14, fig. 5.
Josef Helfenstein and Christian Rümelin, ed. Paul Klee: Catalogue Raisonné. Ed. Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Berne. Vol. 7, 1934–1938. New York, 2003, p. 214, no. 6933, ill., as "Betroffene Stadt (Affected Town)".
Roland März inPicasso and His Time. Ed. Hans-Jürgen Papies et al. 6th enl. ed. (1st ed., 1996). Berlin, 2013, p. 308, ill.
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
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.
