The Rhine at Duisburg

Paul Klee

1937 · Gypsum, oil, and charcoal on cardboard · Modern and Contemporary Art

Here, Klee inventively transforms the industrial city of Duisburg into an upbeat pictogram. A seascape, with boats, a shoreline, and rippling waves, is abbreviated into outlines set against muted tones of mauve, green, peach, rose, and buff. Klee uses open geometric forms for the houses and boats in the upper half of the picture, where one color plane blends into another. Meanwhile, the Rhine River appears as squiggly lines. This work may evoke the happy years Klee spent in the nearby city of Düsseldorf from 1931 to 1933.

Artist

Paul Klee

Date

1937

Medium

Gypsum, oil, and charcoal on cardboard

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984