The Zentrum Paul Klee invites visitors to a journey of discovery through some exciting yet lesser-known terrain. Forthe first time, our new basement exhibition is featuring the full range of Klee’s graphic work in all its thematic, stylisticand printed variety. At the same time, the collection pays homage to Eberhard W. Kornfeld, the prominent Bernese art dealer with a passionate expertise in Paul Klee’s graphic oeuvres.
With few exceptions, Paul Klee’s graphic work forms an integral part of the Zentrum Paul Klee collection. With a focus on Eberhard W. Kornfeld’s outstanding personality and influence, the entire collection of etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and other printed graphic works is being presented in this exhibition for the first time. This little knowncategory of Klee’s works comprises 109 items created between 1901 and 1932. Partly arranged chronologically and partly grouped according to subjects, the works render a graphic and concentrated insight into Klee’s development as an artist.
Kornfeld’s Passion
The exhibition focuses on making Kornfeld’s world comprehensible to the public. Selected private objects, photographs and films reveal his personal and biographical sides – who he was as a person. Meticulous records, research and his publications provide a documentary account of his methodological-scientific side as an art expert. The various facets of Kornfeld’s personality, his significance as a collectorof Klee’s works and his impact as an art dealer and art connoisseur – and especially as the author of the “Register of the Graphic Works of Paul Klee” (the art history reference work for Klee’s graphic work) – will be clearly depicted. But aboveall, it is Kornfeld’s passionate and intense examinationof Klee’s art that comes to the fore.
Paul Klee’s Graphic Work
Revolving around Kornfeld’s personality and impact as the heart of the exhibition, the viewer sees the full extent of the object of his longstanding passion – Klee’s complete graphic works in all their diversity and depth. Grouped according to 12 subjects, but largely following the time order in which they were created, the graphic works are displayed in a variety of states (different printed versions). Drawings, watercolours, reverse paintings on glass and paintings from the Zentrum Paul Klee and the Eberhard W. Kornfeld collections that were used as models or points of reference for particular graphic works or that arose from them are likewise arranged according to thematic groups. In addition, visitors may alsovview the publications and portfolios to which Paul Klee contributed items – including the renowned Bauhaus portfolios with works by Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky and Oskar Schlemmer. This rich collection of prints provides an excellent opportunity to follow, in a condensed form, the many developments, phases and styles within Klee’s artistic creativity.
Zentrum Paul Klee, Monument im Fruchtland 3, P.O. Box, CH-3000 Bern 31, Phone + 41 (0)31 359 01 01, Fax + 41 (0)31 359 01 02, e-mail: [email protected]
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