Paul Klee
Lot 58

Paul Klee

Seiltänzer (K. 95 II)

Closed28 March 2012

Price Realised

GBP 18,750

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Paul Klee
Seiltänzer (K. 95 II)
lithograph, 1923, on wove paper, an extremely rare proof of the first state (of four), presumably one of only three impressions printed from the black stone only, signed and inscribed 1923 138 Seiltänzer 3. Probedr v schwarzen Stein, with margins, the sheet edges slightly irregular, pale light-staining and scattered foxing, a few skilfully repaired tears, framed
L. 440 x 279 mm., S. 520 x 352 mm.

Specialist note

Kornfeld records only two proof impression of this state: the first in the collection of the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, inscribed 1. Probedruck v schwarzen Stein; the second from the Bürgi Collection in the Kunstmuseum Bern, inscribed zweiter Probedruck vom schwarzen Stein. The present impression is the third and previously unrecorded proof.

For Klee the tight-rope walker symbolised an important aspect in his theory of art: the idea of equilibrium. In 1921, he stated in a lecture: The tight-rope walker with his pole [is a] symbol of the balance of forces. He holds the forces of gravity in the balance (weight and counterweight). He is a pair of scales. (J. Spiller, Paul Klee: The Thinking Eye, London, 1961)