Paul Klee

Seaside Resort in the South of France

1927

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On loan

Wellcome Collection (London, UK): Playing Out

Artist: Paul Klee 1879–1940
Original title: Südfranzösisches Seebad
Medium: Graphite, crayon and watercolour on paper on board
Dimensions: Support: 327 × 488 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Gustav and Elly Kahnweiler 1974, accessioned 1994
Reference: T06795

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Klee had significant talent as a musician, and a considerable knowledge of the laws of musical composition. This work is one of a number of architectural landscapes he made in the 1920s which were treated almost like musical scores, with irregular patches of local colour taking the place of notes and horizontal background lines as staves. The loose arrangement of small irregular dots of colour in some ways prefigures Klee’s tighter pointillist work of the 1930s.

Gallery label, August 2004

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