Timeless

Paul Klee is one of my very favorite artists, and whenever I have a chance, I make his works and his philosophy part of my teachings. I do that for many reasons. One is certainly that Klee's art per se is simply fantastic and unique, his works are experimental and diverse yet his artistic styles are quite recognizable. I have found that kids of all ages respond very well to his art. They love to discuss his works and are able to relate to his innovative ways of expressing thoughts and emotions.

I love the lines Klee is famous for - literally and figuratively. "A dot is a line that went for a walk," said the Master of Lines. No cuteness intended and intuitively plausible.

I love Klee particularly because of his playfulness. That's another reason for a Klee lesson. The faces, they say everything. Or not? What do they say.

When my daughter Mona and I went to Germany last Spring to see our family, we also had the chance to visit the large collection of international modern art at "K20" in Duesseldorf where about 100 pieces of Klee's work are permanently exhibited. Mona said later that she felt that Pollock's and Warhol's paintings were screaming, while Klee's pieces were whispering. And it had nothing to do with size, she said.

Newly inspired by Klee's fabulous art, I planned to do something Klee-related for all classrooms as the final  projects of this school year. So the lower elementary students did line drawings, the upper el students made their own versions of Castle and Sun, using oil pastels on record album covers. And the middle schoolers each selected a Klee painting to translate it into a 3-D object. I was so excited by their ability to make a connection with a certain piece.

By the way, Klee's prolific work was called "degenerate" by Hitler, the prosaic painter who wanted to become a professional artist but did not because he just didn't have the talent. The professors at the Vienna art academy told Hitler to go to an architectural school instead and "give up pure art as hopeless." Hitler's style, they found, in which he drew human figures "represented a profound uninterest in people."


Here is another good quote: "The more horrifying the world becomes, the more art becomes abstract." Timeless.

(pictures of my students' work 2018)