Paul Klee (1879-1940)

Executed in 1934 and first exhibited at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1935, Bergschlucht is a large and highly simplified mountain-landscape constructed from bright intersecting blocks of color. Klee was extremely sensitive to the timbre of various landscapes, and his diary repeatedly documents his response to the terrain. He also assembled a diverse collection of botanical materials that he studied as a repertoire of forms. His goal, however, was not the mimetic translation of observed forms into art, but rather an analogy between nature and the artist's creative work, which in his view were subject to the same laws. He declared in his Creative Credo, "Art is a likeness of the Creation. It is sometimes an example, just as the terrestrial is an example of the cosmic" (quoted in W. Grohmann, Paul Klee, London, 1954 p. 181).
Klee was not interested in imitating the outward appearance of a landscape. Instead he wanted to make an art that springs from an inner, life giving creative process, which in turn would be preserved in the work. As Anke Daemgen noted, "In his efforts to fathom the secrets of nature, Klee was striving for a new act of creation, an analogy between nature and the artist's creative work, which in his view were subject to the same laws...The fascination with processes of change and metamorphosis, growth and movement that characterized all of Klee's work reached a climax in his artistic exploration of plants, gardens and landscapes" (quoted in D. Scholz and C. Thomson, ed., The Klee Universe, exh. cat., Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 2008, p. 207).