Klee (Library of Great Painters) (Hardcover)

by Will Grohmann (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
"I cannot be pinned down here and now/ because I live as well with the dead/ as with the unborn./ Somewhat closer to the heart of creation than usual,/ And still not close enough." Klee's tombstone engraving speaks volumes to the way the Swiss artist lived and died, which art scholar Kudielka and artist Riley attempt to capture here. Klee (1879-1940) was a fundamentalist of sorts who spent his life tapping into and maintaining the flow of his creative source; his was a honing of skill into its barest necessity. The development of his work over the last 26 years of his life is lavishly illustrated in this volume, which clearly delineates how he extracted nonessential elements to create pure rhythm and polyphony. The authors provide a succinct discussion of Klee's later work, with interesting snippets from his writing. They manage to mirror the style and thrust of Klee himself: a great mass of information concerning the artist is distilled into essential words and pictures. Klee believed that to paint was simply to put the right color in the right place, a deceptively simple concept ably reflected here. Still, while this is a wonderfully illustrated book, it ultimately offers little new understanding of the artist. Recommended for libraries needing quality color images by Klee and larger public libraries looking to complement more challenging books on Klee by Jean-Louis Ferrier, Roland Doschka, and Carolyn Lanchner. Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"Beautifully illustrated this book provides an intelligent insight into the creative process." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (November 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810902281
• ISBN-13: 978-0810902282
• Product Dimensions: 13.4 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,767,041 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Careful and thorough introduction to Klee, July 4, 2001

By	Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Masters of Art: Klee (Hardcover)

This is an efficient and careful monograph that succeeds on many levels. Grohmann was Klee's biographer and longtime friend. He is respectful without being sycophantic, and thorough but never plodding. He uses a variety of source materials, including Klee's own writings (diaries and letters). Grohmann establishes Klee's lasting importance to art and to painting by asserting, "It is as though he were still among us, to be consulted on every problem of life and art." Grohmann's generous(40 pages, 58 illustrations) and lively essay on Klee is also charming and personal. It combines biography, criticism, a wealth of references, and thought-provoking appreciation. It's generously illustrated with photographs of Klee and his studio, plus ink, tusche, chalk, and pencil drawings, collage, watercolor, tempera, and oil paintings, a woodcut study, and etchings.

The text that accompanies the following forty color plates (a selection of paintings) is the calm, clear art criticism that Grohmann is so good at. The plates' reproduced colors are good but not great. What's best is that Grohmann is such an able teacher. He describes each painting straightforwardly, and then asks intelligent questions, suggests answers that seem well-thought-out, and inspires one to further thought and research. His friendship with Klee gave him some additional understanding of his friend's work and lifelong passions and motives.

A very worthwhile book on a great artist.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional contribution, April 8, 2007

By	Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Paul Klee: The Nature of Creation/Works 1914-1940 (Hardcover)

This is the catalogue for an exhibition that was held at the Hayward Gallery in London a couple of years ago. It benefits from the exceptional contribution of British artist Bridget Riley, one of this rare brand of artists who do not keep their thoughts on other artists to themselves. Seldom can you get an inside view of a painter's work through another painter's eyes.
The exhibition itself was small, but with some of the best examples of Klee's paintings, coming from all over the world. The illustrations are lavish, colors are well rendered; on the whole, one of the best publications on Klee in English.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Huge Hardback That Captures Klee Exhibit of 1980s, September 18, 2001

By	carol irvin "carol knowlton irvin" (chesterland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Paul Klee (Hardcover)

This hardback was issued by the museum when the Klee show toured the USA. It was a spectacular show that captured the essence of this 20th century artistic genius and I was fortunate enough to see the show and buy the book. Paul Klee explored just about every art style there was in his quest to develop modern art and his seemingly simplest paintings were usually his best. Klee lived an often traumatic life as well and when you are exposed to all of his works, you can easily see that quality in his paintings. I found the most eloquent ones were the ones he did as he approached his own painful death. The book does a tour de force job of covering the paintings which were in the show, which is the way the show now lives on.