Beschreibung:

Details
PAUL KLEE (1879-1940)
Wer tötet wen
signed 'Klee' (lower right); dated, numbered and inscribed '1931. L.7. wer tötet wen' (on the artist's mount) and 'S Cl' (on the artist's mount)
tempera and watercolour with Spritztechnik on paper laid down on the artist's mount
sheet: 11 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (28.6 x 47 cm.)
artist's mount: 18 3/4 x 24 1/2 in. (47.5 x 62.2 cm.)
Executed in 1931
Provenance
Lily Klee [the artist's wife], Bern (no. 1051), by descent from the artist in 1940.
Klee-Gesellschaft, Bern (no. ZTRZ), by whom acquired from the above in 1946.
Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne (no. 5149), on consignment from the above, by 1948.
Charlotte Picher Purcell, Chicago, by whom acquired from the above in 1950.
Main Street Gallery, Chicago, by 1973.
Saidenberg Gallery, New York, by whom acquired from the above in 1973.
Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York, by whom acquired from the above in 1973.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 1985.
Literature
W. Grohmann, 'Paul Klee und die Tradition', in Bauhaus. Zeitschrift für Gestaltung, no. 3, December 1931, n.p. (illustrated n.p.).
C. Rümelin, 'Klees Umgang mit seinem eigenen Oeuvre', in Paul Klee Selected by Genius, 1917-1933, exh. cat., Stadthalle, Balingen, 2001, p. 218, footnote 57.
The Paul Klee Foundation, ed., Paul Klee Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 6, 1931-1933, Bonn, 2002, no. 5452, p. 56 (illustrated).
Exhibited
Basel, Kunsthalle, Paul Klee October - November 1935, no. 115, p. 9.
Lucerne, Kunstmuseum, Paul Klee Fritz Huf April - June 1936, no. 91, p. 6.
Lucerne, Galerie Rosengart, Paul Klee June - September 1948, no. 22; this exhibition later travelled to Antwerp, Galerij Artes, March 1949; and Liège, Association pour le progrès intellectuel et artistique de la Wallonie, April 1949.
Chicago, The Arts Club of Chicago, Paul Klee Works from Chicago Collections, January - February 1962, no. 41, n.p. (with inverted dimensions).
Des Moines, Des Moines Art Center, Paul Klee Paintings and Watercolors from The Bauhaus Years, 1921-1931, September - October 1973, no. 58, n.p. (illustrated n.p.; with incorrect medium).
New York, Serge Sabarsky Gallery, Paul Klee The Late Years, 1930-1940, Autumn 1977, no. 9, pp. 25 & 42 (illustrated pl. 9; with incorrect medium).
Bern, Zentrum Paul Klee Paul Klee - Sonderklasse, unverkäuflich, October 2014 - February 2015, no. 252, p. 558 (illustrated pp. 121 & 433); this exhibition later travelled to Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste, March - May 2015.
Special Notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.