Paul Klee (1879-1940)

1937 marked an energetic return to art-making for Paul Klee, having suffered illness in the years immediately prior which had affected his ability to paint and draw. Voralpine Landschaft depicts a rolling alpine landscape, such as those Klee might have visited for treatment around this time whilst he was living in Switzerland. Its harmonious yet dynamic aspect, with complimentary pastel colours bearing a cluster of pine trees in the background, employs Klee's distinctive line as a serpentine curve to direct the eye. This scene is at odds with the chaos that surrounded the artist towards the end of his life; the rise of Fascism that would see the confiscation of many of his own artworks for the Degenerate Exhibition in Germany this same year was occurring simultaneously to his declining health. In this sense, the extraordinary optimism and imagination of Klee's earlier work remains apparent here, attesting to his resilience at this time in the face of difficulty.