Course Description

One of the twentieth century's greatest and most prolific artists, Paul Klee had an impact far beyond what might be expected of a master of small formats. Productive in the many different areas of painting, prints, drawing, sculpture, writing, and teaching, Klee (1879-1940) was deeply rooted in his times in a broad range of world art and culture, a musician as well as a pictorial artist who continuously challenged himself to deal with new formal challenges and a rich and varied iconography. After an initial lecture to review his career and suggest topics of investigation (possibly to include his magic squares, gardens, dancing girls, Italian & Egyptian journeys, musical imagery, erotic subjects, use of perspective, humor, interests in African, Asian, ancient, and modern art, and responses to contemporary politics and history) students will choose, research, and interpret Klee's systematic development of a specific theme and variations. The first half of the course will be devoted to critical reading and discussion of articles and writings to discover models and sources for research. In addition to regular contributions to those discussions and short written assignments, students will provide frequent reports on the state of their own research as they prepare major oral and written presentations on their chosen subjects.

Requirements

Attendance at every meeting. Weekly reading assignments and oral and written reports developed both individually and in groups. The course is writing-intensive. Students will prepare larger oral and written reports (approximately 20 minutes and 20-30 pages) through a series of preparatory stages that provide numerous opportunities for feedback and revision.

Preparation

Before the first meeting all students must purchase and read The Diaries of Paul Klee 1898-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968), a wonderful collection still in print that you can easily find new or used online (try Amazon or Abebooks). You must also purchase and master Will Strunk and E.B. White, The Elements of Style (New York: Penguin, 2005); this most recent edition is brilliantly illustrated by Maira Kalman, but any edition will do. The finest recent scholarly study on Klee is Jenny Anger, Paul Klee and the Decorative in Modern Art (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), but it is prohibitively expensive: you might look for a used copy online or wait to use the copy on reserve in Kohler next fall.