Paul Klee

Paul Klee's explorations of the plastic arts are relatively unknown today, and his work in the field is rarely exhibited. He himself saw it as a sideline and more as an arena for experimentation. Aside from hand puppets he made for his son Felix, his catalogue contains few pieces in the genre. However, his contact with three-dimensional art dates back to his training in Munich at the turn of the 20th century. Klee did not enjoy painting with oils, and so he decided he wanted to become a sculptor and began attending classes. In October 1900, he wrote to his father:

"I have also bought quantities of Plasteline and am working with it like a madman order to surprise my tutor. I can form far better nudes than I have ever drawn, and it seems appropriate to me to subject myself to the critical eye of such a talented sculpture."

But not long afterwards, Klee stops the experiment and returns to painting.

Nonetheless, in 1915 and 1916 Klee creates a small number of plaster figures. Some are produced very quickly from a mass of plaster that he roughly shapes with his hands; others are more considered and elaborate. "Death in the Mask of a Mummy" has hair painted with oils, while the torso is formed by Klee wrapping strips of cloth around the still-wet plaster, which takes an impression of the material and creating the impression of a mummified body. Klee later uses similar techniques to create the hand puppets for his son. He adds the plaster figures to his catalogue of works, which shows that he saw them as pieces of art and not just experiments.