The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918 [Paperback]

Paul Klee (Author), Felix Klee (editor) (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1968

Paul Klee was endowed with a rice and many-sided personality that was continually spilling over into forms of expression other than his painting and that made him one of the most extraordinary phenomena of modern European art. These abilities have left their record in the four intimate Diaries in which he faithfully recorded the events of his inner and outer life from his ninteenth to his fortieth year. Here, together with recollections of his childhood in Bern, his relations with his family and such friends as Kandinsky, Marc, Macke, and many others, his observations on nature and people, his trips to Italy and Tunisia, and his military service, the read will find Klee's crucial experience with literature and music, as well as many of his essential ideas about his own artistic technique and the creative process.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (June 1, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520006534
• ISBN-13: 978-0520006539
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book Every Aspiring Artist Should Keep On Hand, May 29, 2001

By 

Camille Curran (Placerville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918 (Paperback)

When I picked up the Paul Klee Diaries it fell open to the sentence every artist must secretly yearn to see: "...I am still incapable of painting, in spite of my sharp observation of tonal values and inspite of my clever way of determining the proper gradations of light and dark." Well! If he had trouble, there must be hope for the rest of us! The diaries, edited by his son and published posthumously, cover his 19th to 40th years as he travels, attends concerts, draws, paints and engages in intense artistic discourse with friends like Kandinsky and Macke. An exquisite writer, Klee captures whole experiences in a few brief words. The book is a chronicle of the development of both the artist and the art of his time. I especially liked the precise descriptions of his drawing experiments and periodic review of his progress. His grasp of techniques and insights into the creative process can be returned to again and again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 26, 2011

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Avid Reader - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918 (Paperback)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, August 4, 2010

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This review is from: The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918 (Paperback)

It is truly a relief to see this great artist, Paul Klee, express such doubt and self-deprecation with respect to his abilities. This collection of diaries is an excellent inner chronicle of the life and artistic development of the man. Klee was truly a great writer as well as painter, his descriptions of music sing with a kind of clarity few have matched. It is also particularly interesting to read his interactions with the other prominent painters of his period, such as Kandinsky. Although we do not get the same kind of depth of insight that you may find in the letters of Van Gogh, this is nevertheless a welcome view into the life of this brilliant creator of art.