Paul Klee--painting and music

by Hajo Düchting

Paul Klee: Painting Music describes and illustrates how, from his earliest work as both painter and musician, Klee focused his efforts on combining these two related art forms. He attempted to translate the fundamental structures and rythms of musical composition into painting. He developed and harmonized pictorial themes as a composer would write music, weaving a complex series of signs and symbols into his painting. It is no surprise that he constantly sought inspiration in music, the most abstract of all art forms. This book represents the first major attempt to focus on the fascinating bond between music and painting in Klee's work, particularly at the Bauhaus, where his theories and practice first merged, and where he was to develop his Colour Spectrum, Square, and Polyphone painting series.