Composition with Windows | Zentrum Paul Klee

Paul Klee did not want to sell all of his works. He held on to some of them for his estate collection. On the back of Composition with Windows (1919), Klee marked the work as “not for sale”.

In 1920, Composition with Windows had already been reproduced in Leopold Zahn’s monograph on Klee as well as in the arts magazine Ararat. At the same time, Hans Goltz’s Munich gallery Neue Kunst exhibited the work without offering it for sale.

Contradicting this, the same work was later exhibited with a price tag: for example in the Weimar Landesmuseum, the Kunsthalle Bern, the Kunstmuseum Luzern, and the Kunsthaus Zürich.

Despite its prominent place in Klee’s exhibiting and lending activities, the work remained in his possession. In 1936, he finally decisively concluded not to part with it, and noted on the back “not for sale for the estate collection”. Klee kept around 340 works for his estate collection.

In addition to this note, the back also depicts an early oil portrait of a woman. Likely created in 1909, the work was rejected by Klee and not included in his catalogue raisonné.

Contradicting this, the same work was later exhibited with a price tag: for example in the Weimar Landesmuseum, the Kunsthalle Bern, the Kunstmuseum Luzern, and the Kunsthaus Zürich.

In addition to this note, the back also depicts an early oil portrait of a woman. Likely created in 1909, the work was rejected by Klee and not included in his catalogue raisonné.