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Static-Dynamic Gradation

Paul Klee German, born Switzerland
1923
Not on view
"To paint well means only this: to put the right colors in the right spot." Klee offered this aphorism to his students at the Bauhaus, a renowned design school that operated in various German cities between the First and Second World Wars. Klee taught at the Bauhaus for over a decade, first in Weimar (1919–25), then Dessau (1925–32). Static-Dynamic Gradation is one of several works the artist created in conjunction with his courses. This watercolor reflects Klee’s preoccupation with color relationships as governed by the abstract form of the grid.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Static-Dynamic Gradation
  • Artist: Paul Klee (German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto-Locarno)
  • Date: 1923
  • Medium: Oil and gouache on paper bordered with gouache, watercolor, and ink, mounted on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 17 1/8 × 11 1/2 in. (43.5 × 29.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1987
  • Object Number: 1987.455.12
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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