The Malady
<p>While this watercolor may initially appear completely abstract, upon closer inspection a figure emerges from the layered forms. A body has been shaped from parallel lines, which give the appearance of exposed musculature. The figure appears trapped by the approaching darkness on all sides, and a single drop of blood falls from his mouth as another threatens to fall from above. The pain of the subject is palpable: the cross on the left, a symbol of the Crucifixion, enhances this sense of suffering.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1926
- Dimensions
- Primary support: 29.3 × 30.2 cm (11 9/16 × 11 15/16 in.); Secondary support: 39.4 × 38.7 cm (15 9/16 × 15 1/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Paul Klee
Artist
Painting
Paul Klee was born as a German citizen in Münchenbuchsee near Bern, Switzerland, in 1879. Discover Paul Klee's artwork and exhibitions here.
Full artist profile →More
More by Paul Klee
Der Paukenspieler (The Drummer Boy)
1972 · Cotton, jute and wool, plain weave with discontinuous supplementary pile warps forming cut solid pile
Poster for Klee Exhibition at Berggruen & Cie
1955 · Lithograph
Day Music (Musique diurne) from Art d'Aujourd'hui, Maîtres de l'Art Abstrait (Art of Today, Masters of Abstract Art), Album I
1953 · One from a portfolio of sixteen screenprint reproductions
Lady Apart (Dame abseits)
1940 · Pigmented paste on paper on board
Dancing Girl
1940 · Oil on cloth
Leaf from the Memoirs of an Old Woman
1939 · Watercolor and pen and brown ink, over graphite, on off-white wove paper, tipped on ivory wove paper
Record
Verified by WattsOSSource
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified