The exhibition “Social substance” prints great Swiss artist exhibited in the vicinity of the works of his contemporaries - Max Bekmanna, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Kete Kolvits and George Grosu

The Museum of Modern Art San Francisco (SF MOMA) has an impressive collection of the great Swiss graphic artist and father of expressionism Paul Klee (Paul Klee). This collection gave the museum a distinguished chemist Carl Dzherassi (Carl Djerassi). The works of Klee museum in a separate room, where exhibitions are held frequently to help you better understand the creativity of the artist, his contemporaries and followers. For example, last fall in SF MOMA could see «Teaching sketches» Klee, which he made in the preparation of its theoretical course in the Bauhaus school. And in 2007 «room Klée» was arranged exhibition «abstract rhythms», along with drawings the artist exhibited his works a big fan - a young musician Devendry Banharta (Devendra Banhart).

Now SF MOMA opened exhibition entitled «Paul Klee: The social merits». Here you can see the artist's early works, particularly the prints of a series of Inventionen ( «Invention»). These works were created in the years 1903-1905, after Klee went to Italy and met there with the art of the Renaissance.

Looking at the grotesque characters «Invention» immediately raises associations with the artist-mystic symbolists. For example, «Girl in a tree» recalls famous canvas Segantini Giovanni (Giovanni Segantini) «Evil Mother», which depicts a woman punished for voluptuousness. The painting Segantini tree serves as a tool of torture: long hair ravaged heroine entangled in its branches, it can not break free, and has terrible pain. Engraving Klée also tells us of voluptuousness, but girl it does not suffers - it polulezhit on tree branches and, as a bird of prey, vysmatrivaet yourself another victim. The image «fateful woman» is present in other works from the series «Invention», particularly in the engraving «Woman and the Beast». This work is an allegory of women's sensuality, which arouses animal instincts in men. Using the image of femme fatale own early works of Klee works his teacher, the German master of al-Nouveau Each Franz von (Franz von Stuck).

two-faced character of the «Comedy» prompts recall the grotesque face on the pictures of James Ensora (James Ensor). A strange figure in the engraving «Odnokryly hero», while similar to the bird and the maimed, the Greek statue recalls the fantastic creatures that inhabit the dark prints Odilón Redona (Odilon Redon). The most logical option for the viewer to identify the mysterious characters in Klée simvolistsky bestiary, but organizers of the exhibition at SF MOMA place of work from the series «Invention» in a context that allows you to look at them entirely on the other hand, - namely, as a satire, and social criticism.

In «room Klée» engravings of Swiss artist «surrounded» works of his contemporaries, scenes which at first glance have nothing in common with the fantastic world of «Invention». Adjacent to «Woman in a tree» and «Odnokrylym hero» exhibited works on rackety urban life, made the major ills of German society exposer George Grosso (George Grosz), and Max Beckman (Max Beckmann). These artists famous for the unusually harsh and uncompromising paintings depicting scenes of violence, but their work presented at the exhibition, the lack of any fear - they are rather ironic. Next to them you can see one of the «street scenes» singer Berlin decadence of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner). With works on the city of contrasts the work of artist Kete Kolvits (Käthe Kollwitz), which depicts exhausted hungry poor. In this context, prints Klée seen as illustrations of the surreal contrast between images and thoughtless entertainment unportable suffering. Inhumane nature of this contrast highlights include an exhibition of his watercolors «Concert parties», where «rulers doom» - the leaders of political parties - are represented in the form of predatory animals. The work was completed in 1907 and intended for satirical magazine Der Grüne Heinrich. In spirit, the water is close to the «Invention», the main inspiration for which, according to the artist, was the schedule Ditsa Julius (Julius Diez), a prominent representative of German Modernism. Dits known primarily through his illustrations for mythological themes, but he also drew cartoons for the magazine Jugend, which is very young Klee admired. At one time he even dreamed of a career of an illustrator for the satirical magazine Jugend or Simplissimus. We can not say that satire Klée he demonstrated in a series of «Invention», pursuing the same objectives as satire or Bekmanna Grosso, but the dialogue of their works, which we can see at the exhibition «The social substance», gives cause to think about not obvious parallels in the works of these eminent representatives of German expressionism.

Paul Klee exhibition at SF MOMA last until July 12.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Source: sfmoma.com , Marcel Franciscono« Paul Klee. His work and thought , artinvestment.ru