The subtle and vibrant colours and fantastic dream images of the works of Paul Klee make them among the most famous and recognizable of modern art. Here, an essential collection of 130 pieces, held by Klee's closest friend and personal adviser, is released to the public for the first time. This elegantly designed volume offers the only reproduction of these important but little-known works.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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Library Journal Review
This book pays tribute to Paul Klee's first and most generous collector, Hani Brgi, as well as to the artist himself. Early on, Brgi recognized Klee's talent, and her son Rolf's business and political acumen was instrumental in rescuing Klee and his wife from the Nazi regime in Germany, transplanting them to Bern, and preventing the dispersal of Klee's estate as German spoils after World War II. The Brgi collection, which ranges from Klee's early childhood art to his later works, is presented here for the first time and has been little known until now. It forms the core of a new museum in Bern devoted to the artist. The Brgi family history is presented, as is information on the Klee Society and the Klee Foundation, repositories for the art and fostering of his reputation. Essays about Herbert Read's involvement in Klee's critical success, the artist's substantial inclusion in Douglas Cooper's collection, and his unorthodox working tools and methods all add factual detail to the Klee story. Illustrated with 130 full-color reproductions, this is recommended for modern art book collections in museums and universities, as well as for large public libraries and art schools. Ellen Bates, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
CHOICE Review
The prints, drawings, watercolors, and oils reproduced here for the first time are from the collection of Hanni B"urgi (1880-1938), the second largest of Klee's in the world. B"urgi's son Rolf (1906-67) added to the collection and, as the artist's closest friend and advisor, helped the Klee family escape Nazi Germany in 1933; he administered the artist's estate after his death. The text is peppered with brief but well-documented essays: Frey (administrator of the Klee estate) documents the history of the collection and the relationship between artist and patron in one essay, and Rolf B"urgi's creation of the Klee Foundation in another. Helfenstein (curator, Paul Klee Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Bern) places the B"urgi collection in the larger context of Klee's oeuvre, while Michael Baumgartner contributes the only catalog entry (for Fire Source, 1938). Two essays focus on Klee's technical methods in painting and drawing, and additional essays cite Klee's exhibition in the Kunsthalle Bern, 1935, and his reception in Scotland and England. This important contribution to scholarship on Klee has 150 previously unpublished images and numerous archival documents contained in an appendix. General readers; undergraduates through professionals. E. K. Menon; Minnesota State University, Mankato
| Helfenstein, Josef
BookPublisher: London : Merrell Publishers, 2000Description: 287 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.ISBN: 1858941156.Subject(s): Klee, Paul, 1879-1940 -- Exhibitions | Art, Modern -- 20th century -- SwitzerlandDDC classification: 759.9494 KLE