Magdalena before the Conversion Paul Klee Buy Art Prints Now
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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Magdalena before the Conversion, is an example of Klee's work in his later years, after many successes of utilising colour in abstract.

Completed in 1938, gouache paint over a pencil sketch gives the art piece a bold finish.

The form is childlike, but not lacking in geometry. The bright, happy colours are contrasting yet oddly complimentary, and reflect Klee's optimistic mood at the time of painting. Many of Klee's work reflected his moods through the colours he chose.

While a first look at Magdalena may show a naive and simplistic expression of art, it demonstrates Klee's understanding of combining shapes and colour, and his unique ideas and creativity that can never be repeated.

Paul Klee was an individual artist with a unique style influenced by various movements in art, such as Surrealism, Expressionism, and Cubism.

Of Swiss-German birth, Klee became known for his experimentation and exploration of colour theory. He did many lectures and wrote extensively on the subject.

His passion for music combined with his wit and childlike perspective, are often reflected in his art; and together with his colleagues, Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, he taught at the Bauhaus School of Art, Design and Architecture.

Initially, in his early years, Klee intended to become a musician, following in the footsteps of his parents, and their express wishes. However, in his teenage years, he found a lack of interest in the modern music he was directed to learn, and in an act of rebellion, turned his attentions to the visual arts.

Here, he found a freedom to explore his creativity in a range of styles and wild ideas. By the time he was 16, he already demonstrated great skill in his landscape drawings.

Klee's passion for art was cemented when he travelled to Italy in 1901 with his friend, sculptor Herman Haller. Here, he studied the master painters of the past in Rome, Florence and Naples. In his own words about the trip: "The Forum and Vatican have spoken to me. Humanism wants to suffocate me."

However, it was during this trip Klee noted; while he appreciated the positive effects of colour, he could not utilise it for his own artwork. This is a difficulty that would remain with him until a trip to Tunis in 1914. Here, Klee mastered the use of colour; and in doing so, he began experimenting in abstract art and would continue to do so for the res of his life.