Queen of Hearts (Herzdame) from the periodical Der Ararat. Glossen, Skizzen und Notizen zur Neuen Kunst vol. 2, no. 4 (April 1921)

Queen of Hearts (Herzdame) from the periodical Der Ararat. Glossen, Skizzen und Notizen zur Neuen Kunst vol. 2, no. 4 (April 1921) is a significant lithograph executed by Paul Klee in 1921. This print, illustrating the eponymous playing card, was published within the influential German art journal, signaling Klee’s active participation in the avant-garde discourse of the post-war era. The choice of the lithograph medium allowed the artist to disseminate his precise graphic style to a wider audience, moving beyond unique works into mass-produced artistic statements.

Klee’s aesthetic during this critical period utilized simplified, symbolic forms derived from Cubism and his unique language of abstraction. The figure in the Queen of Hearts (Herzdame) is rendered with geometric efficiency, reducing the traditional court card iconography to essential, expressive shapes and linear structures characteristic of the artist’s hand. The Queen’s face, defined by economical lines, exudes a playful, yet somewhat austere, countenance, merging the popular subject matter of playing cards with serious formal experimentation.

The periodical Der Ararat, published in Munich, served as an important platform for promoting New Art in German culture, featuring contributions from leading artists and writers of the day. Created during a time of intense artistic transition in 1921, this piece demonstrates Klee's developing mastery of graphic prints. His exploration into the symbolic potential of the drawn line would soon become central to his teaching and painting career, particularly following his appointment to the Bauhaus faculty shortly thereafter. This important example of Klee’s early modernist graphic output is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.