Laughing Gothic (Lachende Gotik)

Laughing Gothic (Lachende Gotik) by Paul Klee, executed in 1915, is a significant early drawing that marks a crucial transition in the artist's approach to color and structural abstraction. Created during a period of intense artistic experimentation following Klee's illuminating trip to Tunisia, this piece coincides with the challenging beginning of the First World War. The year 1915 was essential for the artist, forcing a reevaluation of expressive forms and cementing his move away from purely representational subjects.

The medium comprises watercolor and pastel applied directly onto paper, meticulously highlighted by an innovative border of metallic paper mounted on board. Klee’s sophisticated use of materials elevates this drawing beyond a simple sketch, demonstrating an early interest in presenting the artwork as a unique, constructed object. He employed delicate watercolor washes to establish the foundation, while the pastel provides graphic intensity and texture. The resulting composition utilizes fragmented geometric forms and sinuous lines, evoking the ornate architectural structures and often unsettling, grinning figures of historical Gothic design.

Klee uses the titular concepts of "gothic" structure and lyrical "laughter" to reconcile complexity and absurdity in a single, visually dense work. The linear quality suggests the architecture associated with the German artistic tradition while the energetic curves introduce a sense of motion and expressive distortion. This synthesis of historical motif and developing abstraction defined his early work. As an important example of Klee’s output from this highly experimental period, Laughing Gothic showcases the artist’s developing mastery of color saturation and his commitment to synthesizing structure with lyrical abstraction, a path that would define his later career, including his time at the Bauhaus. This essential early modern work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.