Paul Klee
Untitled (Village Church with Three Poplars), 1895
Watercolour on cardboard, 11,2 x 7,7 cm
Privately owned in Switzerland, on deposit at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
In 1895, Paul Klee was just 15 years old. He drew and painted a lot. His subjects were the landscapes and views in his neighbourhood, the Bern region, and the Bernese Oberland. He made some paintings during trips with his father to Ticino and based others on images from postcards, magazines, and illustrated calendars. In these skilful early attempts, he tried to convey as much detail as possible. Klee painted this village church in watercolour on cardboard. The motif could have been taken from a postcard: the church is perfectly centred. The dark branches in the right foreground and the poplars in the left background frame the church and lend a sense of depth. This traditional composition has a foreground, middle ground, and background, with the subject appearing in the middle ground.