Paul Klee

Although one side of this work has received more attention in exhibitions, publications and research to date, Klee never declared it to be the main or front side. Both sides are fully developed and could be treated as stand-alone works.

Klee included neither Untitled (Child and Kite) nor Untitled (Flower and Snake) (both around 1940) in his catalogue raisonné. Perhaps he was undecided as to which of the two fully developed works should be the front. Soon after the paintings were completed, Klee passed away.

The titles were posthumously added by Felix Klee. It was also Felix who declared Child and Kite to be the front. Consequently, Child and Kite has been repeatedly exhibited and become the subject of research. The child with the envelope-like body and the paper dragon whose outline is created by a gap in the layer of paint allow for a wide range of interpretations.

But the other side of the work is also worth closer attention. On a textured white background, clouds of red and blue are painted in the upper part, while below there is a greenish-yellow cloud containing a yellow flower. Below it is a sinuous blue line, which has tended to be read as a snake as a result of the title given to the work by Felix Klee.