Paul Klee
Fire Mask, 1939
Coloured paste and pencil on paper on cardboard, 20,9 x 29,7 cm
Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Donation Livia Klee
“Fire Mask” shows how carefully Paul Klee selected colours to go with a particular theme. What is a fire mask? Which images and ideas are associated with this term? Fire, heat, danger, fear, or even panic? Normally, a fire mask would be a mask that protects you from heat and fire. In its rectangular form, Klee’s mask-face resembles a shield. However, the bright red shield is reminiscent of fire. The colour red also signals danger. Klee understood how to elicit a wide spectrum of associations using simple yet deliberate means.