Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages
TLDR Paul Klee | Twittering Machine
Why It Matters
Understanding Klee’s blend of music, theory, and visual art illuminates the roots of modern abstraction and the Bauhaus’s legacy in today’s design thinking. The story of “Twittering Machine” also shows how art can survive political oppression and become a cultural bridge between Europe and the United States.
Key Takeaways
- •Klee trained as violinist before becoming painter.
- •1914 Tunisia trip sparked his vibrant color palette.
- •Bauhaus tenure produced nearly 4,000 pages of teaching notes.
- •Nazis labeled his work degenerate, seized 102 artworks.
- •Scleroderma led to larger, simplified canvases; 1,254 works 1939.
Pulse Analysis
Paul Klee began his artistic journey as a child‑prodigy violinist, but by his early twenties he abandoned music for painting, believing visual art offered untapped innovation. A two‑week trip to Tunisia in 1914 exposed him to intense Mediterranean light, prompting a dramatic shift from monochrome etchings to the bold, abstract color grids that define his later work. This experience cemented Klee’s reputation as a bridge between expressionism, cubism and surrealism, and his musical background continued to inform his rhythmic compositions on canvas.
At the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1931, Klee taught stained‑glass, bookbinding and advanced color theory, leaving behind nearly 4,000 pages of meticulously organized lecture notes. His pedagogical approach treated art as a scientific recreation of natural laws, a philosophy evident in works like the 1922 ‘Twittering Machine.’ Using his own oil‑transfer technique, Klee combined delicate line work with watercolor washes to create a satirical commentary on industrialization, juxtaposing mechanical birds with a hand‑crank. The piece’s eerie balance of organic and engineered elements exemplifies the Bauhaus ideal of uniting art, technology and design.
The rise of the Nazi regime in 1933 branded Klee’s art as degenerate, leading to his dismissal, the confiscation of 102 works, and the infamous 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition. Forced into exile in Switzerland, Klee battled scleroderma, a disease that limited his fine motor skills. He responded by enlarging his canvases, using thick outlines and a somber palette, yet produced a prolific 1,254 pieces in 1939 alone. ‘Twittering Machine’ survived Nazi seizure, entered an American collection, and was acquired by MoMA in 1939, securing Klee’s lasting influence on modern art.
Episode Description
Paul Klee, born on December 18, 1879, in Switzerland, developed into one of modern art's most influential figures, crossing paths with major movements such as Expressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Raised in a deeply musical family, he trained extensively as a violinist and played with the Bern Music Association by age eleven before pivoting to the visual arts and moving to Munich in 1900 to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. Klee believed that classical music lacked further room for creative innovation, prompting his shift toward painting. While his early work consisted mainly of monochromatic etchings and drawings, a pivotal two-week trip to Tunisia in 1914 with August Macke and Louis Moilliet completely transformed his relationship with color, marking a permanent transition toward vibrant, abstract compositions. He later achieved significant professional success as a faculty member at the Bauhaus school from 1921 to 1931, where his highly structured teaching methodology and analytical lectures were compiled into the Paul Klee Notebooks, a text considered as foundational to modern art as Leonardo da Vinci’s treatises were to the Renaissance.
The ascent of the Nazi regime dramatically disrupted Klee's career when the government classified his avant-garde creations as "degenerate art," forcing his dismissal from the Düsseldorf Academy in 1933 and leading to the systemic purge of 102 of his works from public museums. He spent his remaining years in Swiss exile fighting scleroderma, a severe autoimmune disease that hardened his skin and internal organs, rendering fine, intricate linework painful and difficult. Rather than stopping, Klee adjusted his style to accommodate his physical limitations, shifting toward simplified geometric forms, larger canvases, thick black outlines, and a somber color palette ultimately producing 1,254 paintings and drawings in 1939 alone. Over a lifetime that yielded more than 9,000 works bridging abstraction and representation, his 1922 oil transfer and watercolor masterpiece, Twittering Machine, remains a definitive highlight. The painting, which satirizes the industrial automation of nature through four wire-like birds operated by a hand crank, was confiscated by the Nazis from Berlin's National Gallery before being sold abroad and permanently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1939.
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