Paul Klee

Between 1916 and 1925, Paul Klee made hand puppets of various materials for his son Felix, the first of which were for his son’s ninth birthday. They were made of plaster and were called “Mr. Death”, “Kasperl”, “Gretl, his wife”, “Sepperl, his best friend”, “the Devil”, and “the Policeman”. With one exception, they were all destroyed in bombing in Würzburg in 1945.

When he first started making the heads and their costumes, Klee confined himself to plaster and simple pieces of cloth from his wife’s sewing box. But in time he broadened the spectrum to include all kinds of materials using, for the heads, beef bones and walnut shells, rabbit fur and real hair bristles, matchboxes, and even an electric socket. The costumes, which were sewn by Sasha von Sinner, a native of Bern living near the Klees and creator of the famous Sasha dolls, were made of cotton cloth in different patterns, linen, silk, velvet, corduroy, and leather.

Some fifty hand puppets were created in all between 1916 and 1925, of which thirty have survived. Along with those mentioned by Felix Klee, the lost puppets include a crocodile and the devil’s grandmother. The first stage set was made of illustrations taken by Klee from the “Blue Rider” almanac. The theatre, made from old picture-frames and remnants of fabric, was left behind in Weimar along with its sets and decorations. 

Find out more about Paul Klee's hand puppets in our film series "Unpacking Klee".