Hoffmannesque Scene (Hoffmanneske Szene) from the portfolio New European Graphics, 1st Portfolio: Masters of the State Bauhaus, Weimar (Neue europäische Graphik, 1. Mappe: Meister des Staatlichen Bauhauses in Weimar), 1921, is a seminal lithograph by Paul Klee. This graphic work was included in the influential first portfolio of the Neue europäische Graphik series, initiated by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. The portfolio aimed to showcase the progressive and international vision of the newly established German art and design school, featuring masters like Lyonel Feininger and Wassily Kandinsky alongside Klee.
Created in 1921, this print exemplifies Klee’s characteristic graphic style during his early tenure at the Bauhaus. He utilizes the lithograph medium to emphasize sharp linearity and structural complexity. The composition consists of interlocking, abstracted forms overlaid with defining lines, suggesting figures and mechanical or architectural elements rendered with a deliberate naivety. The title, Hoffmannesque Scene, references the fantastical, often grotesque and psychologically deep narratives of Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. Klee translates this literary inspiration into a visual language that evokes a world of symbolic geometry and internal, dreamlike narrative, resisting purely objective interpretation.
This piece stands as a crucial example of modernist German prints immediately following the First World War, reflecting the period's cultural movement towards abstraction and experimental design theory. Klee’s mastery of line and tone in the Hoffmannesque Scene solidified his reputation as a key innovator whose ideas profoundly shaped the curriculum and artistic output of the Bauhaus. The work highlights his transition from Expressionism toward a more systematic, yet profoundly poetic, exploration of form. This important print is part of the extensive collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
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