Paul Klee Rediscovered: Works from the Burgi Collection [Hardcover]

Stefan Frey (Editor), Josef Helfenstein (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

Presents an essential collection of 130 works for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book pays tribute to Paul Klee's first and most generous collector, Hani B rgi, as well as to the artist himself. Early on, B rgi recognized Klee's talent, and her son Rolf's business and political acumen was instrumental in rescuing Klee and his wife from the Nazi regime in Germany, transplanting them to Bern, and preventing the dispersal of Klee's estate as German spoils after World War II. The B rgi collection, which ranges from Klee's early childhood art to his later works, is presented here for the first time and has been little known until now. It forms the core of a new museum in Bern devoted to the artist. The B rgi family history is presented, as is information on the Klee Society and the Klee Foundation, repositories for the art and fostering of his reputation. Essays about Herbert Read's involvement in Klee's critical success, the artist's substantial inclusion in Douglas Cooper's collection, and his unorthodox working tools and methods all add factual detail to the Klee story. Illustrated with 130 full-color reproductions, this is recommended for modern art book collections in museums and universities, as well as for large public libraries and art schools. Ellen Bates, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Known for their subtle and vibrant color, their fantastic dream images, their wit, and their playful imagination, the works of painter Paul Klee are among the most famous and recognizable of modern art. In this ground-breaking new volume, an essential group of 150 oils, watercolors, drawings, and prints, representative of Klee's entire career, is released to the public for the first time.

These unpublished works are held in the Burgi Collection. Hanni Burgi (1880-1938) and her son Rolf (1906-1967) were intimately bound to Paul Klee and his family, and during the two and a half decades Hanni knew the artist, she built up the second largest collection of his pictures in the world: as early as 1938 it was described as "a very beautiful, full collection of [Klee's] works, which reflects the whole of his development as an artist." Rolf Burgi continued to add to it after his mother's death. It was Rolf, also, who, as the Klees' closest friend and adviser, made possible their escape from Nazi Germany in 1933, and, after Paul Klee's death, administrated his estate, saved it from liquidation, and set up the Paul Klee Foundation.

Offering new art-historical insight into Klee's career - from his early Impressionist-inspired works, through his Expressionism with Kandisky and his Bauhaus period between the wars - this book contains the only reproduction of these important but little-known pieces collected by the Burgis, and will become essential to all enthusiasts of the art of Paul Klee and the modern period. The Burgi Collection represents a legacy of enduring loyalty and commitment to Paul Klee and his work that this lavishly illustrated volume handsomely honours.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Merrell Publishers; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858941156
• ISBN-13: 978-1858941158
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,065,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Klee's best friend's paintings, October 15, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Paul Klee Rediscovered: Works from the Burgi Collection (Hardcover)

This book reveals the secrets of one of the best private collections of Paul Klee's works, held by the Bürgi family in Switzerland. From prints, to drawings, from watercolors to paintings (in various media), there are more than a hundred little-known works wonderfully illustrated in a book that sheds a new light on Klee's working process.

Some short essays, unburdened by unecessary erudition, describing the artist's method and the relationship between Klee and the Bürgis complement the many reproductions.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves the art of Paul Klee.