Gefährliches, 1938 by Paul Klee is a significant painting from the final, highly expressive period of the artist’s career. The work was meticulously executed using oil on cotton that was adhered to cardboard and then nailed onto the stretcher, reflecting Klee's persistent experimentation with unusual materials during the late 1930s. This painting is housed within the prestigious collection of the Kunstsammlung NRW.
Created while Klee lived in exile in Bern, Switzerland, this piece reflects the profound anxiety and turbulence of the era leading up to World War II. The German title, Gefährliches (Dangerous), conveys both the pervasive political threat of the time and the artist’s personal confrontation with serious illness. Klee often employed stark, symbolic compositions to externalize his inner world, favoring simplified geometric forms and powerful linear structures over detailed rendering.
The composition emphasizes bold outlines and graphic clarity, characteristics that defined Klee’s mature style. While deeply personal, the intellectual rigor of this painting allows it to transcend its immediate context. The enduring influence of this masterwork is apparent in the ongoing appreciation of modern abstraction, and high-quality prints and reproductions of Klee’s output are frequently encountered in collections leveraging public domain resources.
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