Hoffmannesque Scene (Hoffmanneske Szene) for the portfolio New European Graphics, 1st Portfolio: Masters of the Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar (Neue europäische Graphik, 1. Mappe: Meister des Staatlichen Bauhauses in Weimar)

Paul Klee’s Hoffmannesque Scene (Hoffmanneske Szene) for the portfolio New European Graphics, 1st Portfolio: Masters of the Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar (Neue europäische Graphik, 1. Mappe: Meister des Staatlichen Bauhauses in Weimar) is a seminal lithograph created in 1921. This intricate print was a vital inclusion in the influential Neue europäische Graphik series, a portfolio designed to distribute and promote the aesthetic output of the Bauhaus masters during the school’s formative years in Weimar. Klee, who had joined the German faculty in 1920, consistently explored the expressive limits of printmaking, finding that the precision of the lithographic medium perfectly suited his rigorous investigations into formal composition.

The subject matter, indicated by the title, references the uncanny and grotesque fantasy tales of the Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. Klee translates this literary world into a compressed, graphic space where architectural fragments, mechanical elements, and abstract signs are tightly interwoven. The composition avoids conventional perspective, utilizing instead a dense layering of lines and shapes that suggest a complex, almost claustrophobic interior scene or stage set. This emphasis on graphic structure over illusionism was central to Klee's work during the early 1920s, allowing him to explore narrative suggestion through purely abstract means.

As one of the earliest official graphic statements from the Bauhaus, the portfolio was instrumental in defining the German avant-garde's dedication to synthesis across fine and applied arts. Klee’s contributions, including Hoffmannesque Scene, are highly valued for their fusion of personal poetic vision and academic formal analysis. While the original edition of this important work from 1921 is rarely encountered, many Klee prints are now considered public domain. This particular impression of the lithograph is housed within the prestigious collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), serving as a crucial example of the graphic revolution spearheaded by the early masters of the Staatliches Bauhaus.