Paul Klee (1879–1940) was a German painter and graphic artist. Prior to his influential work at the Bauhaus, he was a member of the artists’ group Der Blaue Reiter. In 1914, while still working primarily as a draftsman and graphic artist, he traveled to Tunis with two fellow artists; their journey is considered by art historians to be a key event in German modern art. It was this journey that enabled Klee’s international breakthrough as a painter. From 1920 to 1931, Klee was active at the Bauhaus until offered a professorship at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. After Hitler took power, Klee and his family emigrated to Bern. In 1937, numerous works of his were displayed at the Degenerate Art exhibition, then confiscated and sold abroad. In 1940, about four months prior to Klee’s death, the Kunsthaus Zürich hosted an anniversary exhibition of the artist’s later works. Paul Klee’s extensive oeuvre and his writings on art theory make him one of the most important practitioners of 20th-century early modern art.
