Paul Klee: Life and Work

Back in print, the most authoritative overview on the beloved Bauhaus Renaissance man and pioneer of abstraction, the first artist to "take a line for a walk" The many books on Paul Klee (1879-1940) published over the years should not obscure the fact that there has been no new, comprehensive Klee overview since Will Grohmanns oft-reprinted 1954 monograph. With Paul Klee: Life and Work, the Zentrum Paul Klee has set out to fill this gap, drawing on a wealth of new resources including the Klee familys archives, much of which is published here for the first time. Life and work are truly integrated in this massive, 344-page volume: Klees vast body of work is surveyed chronologically, as the book narrates his life alongside the abundant reproductions of drawings, paintings, watercolors, sculptures, puppets and numerous archival documents and photographs (nearly 500 reproductions in total). The book divides Klees career into eight periods: Childhood and Youth; Munich and the Encounter with the Avant Garde; World War I and the Breakthrough to Success; At the Bauhaus in Weimar; Master of Modern Art; The Move to Dusseldorf and the Nazi Rise to Power; First Years of Emigration in Bern; and Final Years. The result of many years of research and labor, this magisterial publication demonstrates conclusively why Klee numbers among the most influential and best-loved artists of the past 100 years.