Paul Klee

This work by Paul Klee clearly shows his interest in natural structures. What can be seen of the garden in the title is, more than anything, a distorted geometric structure. A rhythm of flowing forms emerges. Some of the individual fields include additional structures: a chess board pattern, hatching, or circular shapes. Plants are only hinted at in the form of sprawling, flowing structures.

Klee was interested in the interaction between the artificial and the natural: Because every park or garden is nature shaped by human hands. He saw himself as an artist who created something new from natural phenomena, structures, and processes – just like nature itself.

Throughout nature there are structures, or forms, that are built according to certain rules or patterns. These structures primarily arise to serve specific functions. For example, the seeds at the centre of sunflowers are arranged in spirals. Some spirals curve toward the right while others curve toward the left. When you count the spirals in each direction, you discover very specific numerical sequences for each flower. Such spirals are also found in snail and seashells. The arrangement of leaves on a flower or the stem of a plant is also related to this phenomenon: They are staggered so they do not overshadow one another, allowing the plant to absorb as much solar energy as possible.