Three Heads (Drei Köpfe) (tailpiece, page 38) from the periodical Münchner Blätter für Dichtung und Graphik, vol. 1, no. 3 (March 1919)

Three Heads (Drei Köpfe) (tailpiece, page 38) from the periodical Münchner Blätter für Dichtung und Graphik, vol. 1, no. 3 (March 1919) is an early modernist lithograph co-created by artists Paul Klee and Renatus Kuno. Classified as a component of a periodical, this print was featured within the third issue of the Münchner Blätter, a significant publication that bridged avant-garde literature and graphic arts in the German cultural sphere immediately following World War I.

The work is a lithograph, a medium frequently embraced by modernists for its reproductive capabilities, allowing for the wider dissemination of new aesthetic concepts. Produced in 1919, the piece demonstrates a minimalist, linear approach to figuration, depicting three simplified, frontal human heads clustered together. This graphic style aligns with the era’s experiments in abstraction and Expressionism, where emotional resonance was conveyed through concise, sometimes childlike, mark-making. The function of the image as a tailpiece indicates its role as a decorative or punctuating element within the printed text, requiring a composition that is visually impactful yet formally contained.

The inclusion of Klee in this collaboration highlights his commitment to the print medium during this formative period. Klee, alongside Kuno, contributes to the overall artistic ethos of the Münchner Blätter, which aimed to revitalize German artistic expression during a time of intense socio-political upheaval. This concentration on affordable prints and reproducible media underscores the democratic ideals often associated with modernist movements in 1919. Three Heads (Drei Köpfe) remains an important artifact documenting the cross-pollination of literary and visual arts in post-imperial Germany. This lithograph is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.