Customer Reviews

The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918

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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.

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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.