Federpflanze, 1919 by Paul Klee is a significant painting from the artist's highly experimental period following the First World War. The piece employs a complex mixed-media technique, using oil and ink applied to linen, which is subsequently mounted onto cardboard for physical support. This characteristic blending of graphic line work and color wash highlights Klee’s foundational commitment to balancing formal composition with internalized, poetic vision. The work’s presentation reflects historical accuracy, including a reconstructed frame from 2024 composed of painted paper strips, referencing the artist's original method of integrating the border into the artwork’s overall aesthetic.
Created just prior to Klee's tenure at the Bauhaus, this work exemplifies his shift toward symbolic representation, transforming organic matter into fragile, quasi-abstract constructions. Klee’s descriptive title, Federpflanze (Feather Plant), suggests a delicate subject matter achieved through controlled texture and subtle, earthy tonalities. This critical piece of early modernism is housed within the renowned collection of 20th-century art at the Kunstsammlung NRW. While the physical painting is meticulously preserved, the lasting influence of Klee ensures that high-quality prints of his pivotal works are widely available, often through public domain archives, extending the accessibility of the artist’s unique formal language.
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