Paul Klee

1879 - 1940

Paul Klee
Modern
Modern

Paul Klee

Born 1879 Died 1940

The Early Life of Paul Klee Born on December 18, 1879, in Münchenbuchsee, near Bern, Switzerland, Paul Klee grew up in a home defined by the discipline of music. He was the second child of Hans Wilhelm Klee, a German music teacher, and Ida Marie Klee, a Swiss singer. The sounds of his parents' professions likely shaped the atmosphere of his childhood, providing a rhythmic foundation that would follow him into his later years. By the age of eleven, Klee was already showing a significant talent for the violin, earning an invitation to play with the Bern Music Association. Despite his musical…

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works mapped
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1940
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An Interactive Constellation

The Subject Atlas

A chart of Paul Klee's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.

Focus a Subject
Trace a Context

Spokes — Subject

Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.

Rings — Career Period

Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.

Threads — Shared Context

Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.