Paul Klee
The German in the Brawl, 1914
Pen on paper on cardboard, 16,4 x 24,8 cm
Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
In 1914, the First World War broke out. Many welcomed the war, including friends of Paul Klee such as August Macke and Franz Marc. They expected a short war that would eradicate tradition and the establishment, wiping the slate clean for a new society and even a new art. Klee’s view toward the war and politics was detached and critical. He commented: “I have long had this war inside me. That is why it does not affect me inside. And to work my way out of my ruins, I had to fly. And so I flew.”
“The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the here and now.”
Paul Klee, 1915