The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 5, 2024

With the Dot

With the Dot

1916
(German, 1879–1940)
Germany, 20th century
pen and black ink
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

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.”
  • Galerie Rosengart, Lucern (old label in file; stamped, verso, lower center, in purple ink: GALERIE ROSENGART / LUZERN). Frederick C. Shang, South Norwalk, Connecticut (old label in file); Eugene Victor Thaw (departmental catalog sheet); [The New Gallery, New York] (old label in file)
  • Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 14-May 27, 2018).
    The German Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-June 27, 1993).
    Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).
    German Drawings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art (April 1-July 13, 1980).
    Prints and Drawings, 1916-1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-July 24, 1966).
    Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=With the Dot|url=false|author=Paul Klee|year=1916|access-date=05 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.50