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With the Dot

1916
(German, 1879–1940)
Germany, 20th century
pen and black ink
Support: Blued white modern laid paper, tipped on to cream(2) wove paper (not original), hinged to a tertiary support of beige(2) wove paper (artist's mount)
Sheet: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Secondary Support: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Tertiary Support: 24.4 x 31.9 cm (9 5/8 x 12 9/16 in.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1961.50
Location: not on view
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Description

Paul Klee made this drawing during World War I. It shows a hovering figure, who could be saintly or demonic, overlooking a scene that includes a zeppelin, a decapitated child, a fallen soldier, and a recoiling (or attacking) figure. The soldier’s helmet displays a handle, implying the mechanized or dehumanized war machine. Klee’s title for the drawing includes the depiction of a point (•), which refers to the circular zeppelin or circle that frequently appeared in his drawings as a menacing omen. In 1915 Klee wrote: “The more horrifying this world becomes the more art becomes abstract; while a world at peace produces realistic art.”
With the Dot

With the Dot

1916

Paul Klee

(German, 1879–1940)
Germany, 20th century

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