Digital Guide

Paul Klee

Play on the Water

Bleistift auf Papier auf Karton , 17,9 x 27 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

Pond

The little pond here at the edge of the Zentrum Paul Klee’s grounds invites you to pause and rest. Reeds grow at its edge. In the pond, there are various fish and insects that feel at home in and on the water. Every plant and creature needs a certain environment. Together they form an ecosystem, in which they are all interdependent. Just observe the surface of the water: It ripples with small waves in the light wind. The waves follow one another, forming lines or circles.

About the Work

Time and again, the surfaces of bodies of water fascinated Paul Klee. He observed rivers, ponds, lakes, and the sea. His interest lay in the ways the waves change and shape the water’s surface, appearing as parallel lines or concentric circles in a state of constant motion and change. Klee could only partially convey this movement. In works such as “Play on the Water,” however, he drew inspiration from the moving surfaces of water. The parallel lines of his drawing change in the middle and become waves or spirals.

Learn More: Movement

Movement courses throughout nature. Life cannot exist without it because growth is also a form of movement. And things that are still are usually dead or were never alive in the first place. On a small scale, there is the movement of bacteria in the soil or even in our bodies. On a large scale, there is the movement of our planet. Its movement is also vital for us: This is what brings about the seasons and day and night. Paul Klee was highly aware of movement’s importance. That’s why he tried to show it in numerous works, with the help of arrows and unicycles, with moving lines, or even with gradients of colour.