3235 - PAUL KLEE

PAUL KLEE (Münchenbuchsee 1879–1940 Muralto) Kleine Gartenecke. 1931. Oil and wax colours on paper on artist's board. Signed upper right: Klee. Dated, inscribed and titled lower centre on the artist's board: 1931. W12. kl. Gartenecke. 16.5 × 14 cm. Provenance: - Rudolf Probst, Galerie Neue Kunst Fides/Das Kunsthaus, Dresden/Mannheim, 1932/33. - Lily Klee Collection, Bern, 1940–45. - Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, 1945/46. - Curt Valentin, Buchholz Gallery/Valentin Gallery, Berlin/New York, from 1946. - Clifford Odets, New York, until 1954. - Saidenberg Gallery, New York, from 1954 (label on verso). - Galerie Georges Moos, Geneva. - Private collection, Switzerland, inherited from the above and retained by the same family for three generations. - Auction Koller Zurich, 3 December 2021, lot 3229. - Swiss collection, acquired at the above auction. Exhibited: - Lucerne 1945, Paul Klee zum Gedächtnis, Galerie Rosengart, 15 July–15 September 1945, no. 26. - New York 1954, Paul Klee. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings commemorating the 75th Anniversary of his Birth, Saidenberg Gallery, 8 March–26 April 1954, no. 24. - Geneva 1973, Art du XXe siècle. Collections genevoises, Musée Rath et Cabinet des Estampes, 28 June–23 September 1973, no. 73 (label on verso). Literature: Paul-Klee-Stiftung and Kunstmuseum Bern (eds): Catalogue raisonné Paul Klee, vol. VI, Bern 2000, p. 148, no. 5657 (ill.). Alongside landscapes, nature and the plant world are central themes in Paul Klee’s art, running like a thread through his work from his earliest creations to his final years. ‘Kleine Gartenecke’, painted in 1931, is distinguished by its thick, paste-like application of colour, which lends the work a painterly character. Through Curt Valentin, one of Klee’s most important American dealers, the work reached the United States in the 1940s. Almost ten years later, it returned to Switzerland through the Geneva gallery owner Georges Moos. * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.