The Crooked Mouth and the Light Green Eyes of Mrs. B. (Der schiefe Mund und die hellgrünen Augen der Frau B.) is a distinctive ink drawing created by Paul Klee in 1925. Executed using ink on paper and subsequently mounted onto board, this piece exemplifies the artist's highly inventive graphic style developed during his influential tenure teaching at the Bauhaus, the pivotal German institution of modern design. This drawing belongs to a highly productive period for Klee, following his relocation to Dessau, where his explorations of line, abstracted portraiture, and psychological form reached new levels of complexity.
This work focuses intensely on the suggestive character of the sitter, Mrs. B., capturing an essential inner state rather than merely the external appearance. Klee often employed minimalist, expressive lines and rapid drawing techniques to achieve this effect. The composition centers on facial characteristics referenced in the title, such as the characteristic "crooked mouth" and the implied intensity of the gaze. The transformation of the figure is highly graphic, utilizing simplicity and inherent asymmetry to convey a sense of either humor, anxiety, or deep psychological observation. This methodology allowed Klee to categorize the figure as a specific type, reflecting his concurrent studies into typology and human physiognomy during the mid-1920s.
Created while Klee was deeply embedded in the experimental environment of German modernism, this piece demonstrates his capacity to move fluidly between pure abstraction and legible figuration. Dating specifically to 1925, the drawing is a significant example of his graphic output during the height of the Bauhaus era. The work resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), ensuring its continued study by scholars. As a seminal work by Klee, the image is frequently reproduced, and high-quality digital prints of this modernist drawing are often made available through public domain initiatives, helping to disseminate Klee's influential vision globally.
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