Loading

With the Dot

Paul Klee1916

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Paul Klee made this drawing during World War I. It shows a hovering figure, who could be saintly or demonic, overlooking a scene that includes a zeppelin, a decapitated child, a fallen soldier, and a recoiling (or attacking) figure. The soldier’s helmet displays a handle, implying the mechanized or dehumanized war machine. Klee’s title for the drawing includes the depiction of a point (•), which refers to the circular zeppelin or circle that frequently appeared in his drawings as a menacing omen. In 1915 Klee wrote: “The more horrifying this world becomes the more art becomes abstract; while a world at peace produces realistic art.”

Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
  • Title: With the Dot
  • Creator: Paul Klee (German, 1879-1940)
  • Date Created: 1916
  • Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Secondary Support: 12.4 x 14.5 cm (4 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Tertiary Support: 24.4 x 31.9 cm (9 5/8 x 12 9/16 in.)
  • Provenance: Galerie Rosengart, Lucern (old label in file; stamped, verso, lower center, in purple ink: GALERIE ROSENGART / LUZERN). Frederick C. Shang, South Norwalk, Connecticut (old label in file); Eugene Victor Thaw (departmental catalog sheet); [The New Gallery, New York] (old label in file)
  • Type: Drawing
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.50
  • Medium: pen and black ink
  • Inscriptions: signed, upper right, in black ink: Klee ; TERTIARY SUPPORT, by artist, center left, in black ink: 1916 57 ; VERSO OF TERTIARY SUPPORT, lower left, in red ink: 7983-B
  • Department: Drawings
  • Culture: Germany, 20th century
  • Credit Line: Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Collection: DR - German
  • Accession Number: 1961.50
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Interested in Visual arts?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites