Klee, Paul

* December 18, 1879 in Münchenbuchsee - † June 29, 1940 in Muralto

biography

1879 December 18th: Paul Klee is born in Münchenbuchsee near Bern as the son of a music teacher and a singer. In 1898 he moved to Munich, where he etched and drew at a private school with Heinrich Knirr (1862-1944). 1900 studied at the Munich Academy in Franz von Stuck's painting class. 1901/02 study trip to Rome. 1902-1906 Klee lives again in Bern, where he creates his first reverse-glass paintings and further etchings. 1905 study trip to Paris. 1906 After marrying the pianist Lily Stumpf, the couple moved to Munich, where Klee became acquainted with works by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and Paul Cézanne at exhibitions. 1908 exhibition at the Munich and Berlin Secession. Acquaintance with Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Hans Arp. 1911 First exhibition in the Thannhauser Gallery. 1912 Participation in the second exhibition of the “Blue Rider”. Klee met Alexej von Jawlensky, Rainer Maria Rilke and Herwarth Walden (1878-1941). Visit to the Kahnweiler Gallery in Paris, where he sees paintings by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954). 1913 Klee exhibits at the First German Autumn Salon. Beginning of watercolor painting. 1914 Trip to Tunisia with August Macke and Louis René Moilliet (1880-192). 1916-1918 military service in the German infantry. 1920 Walter Gropius appointed Klee to the Bauhaus in Weimar, where he first taught as a form master and then in a painting class. Exhibition of 362 of his works at Goltz in Munich. 1924 First Klee exhibition in New York. 1925 Moves with the Bauhaus to Dessau. Participation in the first group exhibition of the "peinture surréaliste" in Paris, including Max Ernst, Joan Miró (1893-1983) and Picasso. 1926 Klee founded the “Blue Four” with Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger and Jawlensky. Above all, he paints constructive and absolute pictures. 1928 trip to Egypt. 1931 professorship at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. 1933 Under pressure from the National Socialists, Klee was dismissed from his teaching position. Move to Bern. 1935 First signs of the fatal disease (scleroderma). Klee exhibitions in Bern and Basel. 1937 The National Socialists defame Klee's art as "degenerate" and confiscate 102 of his works from German museums. 17 of them are shown in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition. 1940 June 29: Paul Klee dies in Muralto in Ticino.