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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=98E680DA253B344A8AB3E2F8EC5ACFD9D09A8D3CF4630DB197F1EC0C3D842F83&s=24247294&se=346897551&v=3&f=1969.46_o2.jpg

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Carnival in the Snow

1923

Paul Klee

(German, 1879–1940)

Germany, 20th century

Watercolor

Support: Beige(1) laid paper laid down on beige(1) wove paper discolored to yellow-beige (artist's mount)

Sheet: 24 x 23.5 cm (9 7/16 x 9 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 34.5 x 29.3 cm (13 9/16 x 11 9/16 in.)

Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1969.46

Location

not on view

Description

In this watercolor, acrobats and circus jugglers emerge from a complex pattern of shapes and colors. Two jugglers share a face and torso. A member of Der Blaue Reiter group in Munich, Paul Klee believed that the elements of color and shape alone could carry connotations of emotions, moods, and subjective feelings. His method was to begin painting without a subject, only settling upon something that could be recognized after layering colored form upon colored form.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed, upper left, in brown ink: Klee ; SECONDARY SUPPORT, by artist, lower center, in brown ink: 1923 /// 40 Karneval im Schnee [slashes part of inscription]

Provenance

"This work was found in the estate of a young graphic designer after his death in 1944. This young man must have been a personal acquaintance of Klee's." (letter from Doris Ryser of Karl u. Faber in departmental file); [Karl u. Faber, Munich, Dec. 11-12, 1968, lot no. 957]; [E.V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York]

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 196 archive.org

Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 1 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 246 archive.org

Henning, Edward B. The Spirit of Surrealism. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979. Mentioned: p. 108, 173; Reproduced: p. 108

Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 130, no. 39

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).

Paul Klee: The Bauhaus Years. Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA (organizer) (September 18-October 28, 1973).

Works of Paul Klee. Josef Haubrich Kunsthalle, Cologne, Germany (organizer) (April 7-June 4, 1979).

Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).

Directions in Drawing II: The Human Figure. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-January 12, 1992).

Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 14-May 27, 2018).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Carnival in the Snow|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.46|author=Paul Klee|year=1923|access-date=21 September 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Carnival in the Snow

Carnival in the Snow

Paul Klee

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