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International Art Treasures Web Magazine June 2005 |
Paul Klee Center Opened
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Switzerland is home to an innovative center housing an impressive collection of art from native son, Paul Klee. Over 4,000 works are contained in the recently completed Renzo Piano designed complex. It is believed to be the largest collection of works from a single world famous artist housed under one roof. |
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Paul Klee was an accomplished musician, poet and acclaimed Bauhaus teacher as well as visual artist, and that too is reflected in the Zentrum, for it is a performance theatre as well as art museum and research center. |
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Klee The Artist
Title: High Spirits / Uebermut 1939, 1251
Artist: Paul Klee (Swiss 1879-1940)
Medium: ; Original Frame / Ölfarbe und Kleisterfarbe auf Papier auf Jute auf Keilrahmen; originale Rahmenleisten
Dimensions: 101 x 130 cm
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
Paul Klee studied under Franz von Stuck at the Academy in Munich, Germany. He worked in Bern before returning to Germany after his marriage to Lily Strumpf. His artist friends included Kandinsky, Macke and Jawlensky. His first output was mainly etching. Along with Macke he visited Tunisia in 1914 and it was here that he acknowledged he was awakened to the beauty of color.
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The First World War intruded into his artistic career. As a member of the German army his skills were used to paint airplanes. After its conclusion he had a major exhibition of his work in Munich and it brought his talents to the attention of Walter Gropius, founder of Bauhaus. |
Title: Bern, Switzerland home of the new Zentrum Paul Klee
Photographer: John Blanchette
Image ©: IATWM
Klee The Bauhaus Teacher
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Gropius founded the Bauhaus School of Art and Design, famous for marring the distinction between fine and applied arts, leading to significant creativity among its prominent teachers such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. |
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Several students became teachers, such as Josef Albers. After Gropius left the internal conflicts in the change in style prompted Klee to leave after ten years of teaching. The school opened in 1919 and was shut down by the Nazis in 1933. Klee taught at the Düsseldorf Academy but the year the Bauhaus was closed he was fired by the Nazi regime. He left Germany as a result, returning to Berne.
Title: Before the Gates of Kairouan / vor den Toren v. Kairuan, 1914, 216
Artist: Paul Klee (Swiss 1879-1940)
Medium: Watercolor on paper and board / Aquarell auf Papier auf Karton
Dimensions: 20.7 x 31.5 cm
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
The Klee Style
Title: Bern, Switzerland home of the new Renzo Piano Zentrum Paul Klee
Photographer: John Blanchette
Image ©: IATWM
The Swiss artist didn't hold to one particular genre, refusing to limit his talents, instead he enjoyed figures and abstract, painted in oil and watercolor and occasionally the two together. Often described as 'deceptively simple' in the manner of Matisse, Klee utilized color and line to express his artistic viewpoint. Klee generally preferred to produce smaller works. He is unique and so too is the center built to honor his life, creativity and work.
Title: Intend / Vorhaben, 1938, 126
Artist: Paul Klee (Swiss 1879-1940)
Medium: Kleisterfarbe auf Zeitungspapier auf Jute auf Keilrahmen; originale Rahmenleisten
Dimensions: 75.5 x 112.3 cm
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
Renzo Piano: The Zentrum Architect
Title: Paul Klee Center / Hauptfassade und Weg
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
Genoa native Renzo Piano believes "Being an architect is the best thing in the world: because, on this small planet, where there is nothing left to discover, designing is one of the few great adventures left.”
Title: Side View of Zentrum Paul Klee
Photographer: John Blanchette
Image ©: IATWM
His works include:
- Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
- Cy Twombly Pavilion, Houston, Texas
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Varnamö, Sweden
- National Centre for Science and Technology Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern Switzerland
Title: Paul Klee Center Night View / Museumnacht Bern 2004
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
Asked "Where do I begin? Why, with Klee of course!" is how Renzo Piano described his vision for the center bearing the artist's name. It is dedicated to a "poet of stillness" and thus the place is tranquil while honoring Klee.
Title: Renzo Piano designed Zentrum Paul Klee in the capital of Switzerland, Bern
Photographer: John Blanchette
Image ©: IATWM
The Italian architect added, "I like to think of a museum as a metaphysical place, as a place to lose your head." The Zentrum, with its wave structure, is a fitting home to the unique style of Paul Klee.
Title: Paul Klee Center, Bern
Image Courtesy: Paul Klee Center / Zentrum Paul Klee Bern
