Paul Klee
Centrifugal Forces, 1929
Watercolour on paper on cardboard, 24,5 x 23,5 cm
Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
Klee directly stated the theme of this watercolour in the title: “Centrifugal Forces.” By this, he meant rotational forces, like those we can experience directly on a merry-go-round. But how can such forces of motion be represented visually? Klee tried to do so with round and oval fields of colour that shift and intersect. Layer by layer, Klee applied the transparent watercolour. Where the colour overlaps, the tone is darker. Through this layering of form and colour, Klee created a sense of suction-like circular movement.