Paul Klee Polyphonies - Cité de la musique

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Paul Klee Polyphonies
Exhibition at the Musée de la musique from 18 October 2011 to 15 January 2012
Exhibition
Exhibition curator: Marcella Lista, art historian
With Paul Klee Polyphonies, the Musée de la musique presents its first monographic exhibition dedicated
to the work of a painter. One of the most innovative artists of the first half of the 20th century, Paul Klee
stands out because of his exceptional practice and culture of music, both as a professional-level violinist and
as a passionate listener inclined to share his critical vision of the repertoire and its interpretation. What’s more,
music was an integral part of the pictorial theory that Klee gradually developed, fuelling his ongoing quest to give
painting a broader range of expression.
Created in partnership with the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, the main lender, the exhibition brings together over
130 works and more than 70 documents taken mainly from his personal archives. Loans from large private
German and Swiss collections, along with the participation of museums such as Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne,
London’s Tate Modern, the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Kunsthaus in Zurich have made it possible to show
some exceptional and rare works. This exhibition is the first major retrospective of the artist to be held
in Paris since ‘Klee et la musique’ at the Musée national d’Art moderne in 1985.
Adopting a chronological presentation, it provides visitors with an insight into Paul Klee’s artistic journey through
the most significant aesthetic debates of the time. Paul Klee’s dialogue with his contemporaries (the artists
of expressionism, cubism and Dadaism) and later his theoretical and pedagogical commitment to Bauhaus
are telling of the keen interest he had in the issues of the avant-garde movement. But in Klee’s artistic ambition,
these concerns are perceived as part of a much broader approach taking in classical as much as modern art.
Music, poetry and the performing arts are constant references, maintaining in his work a rich porosity that
attempts to assimilate several registers of language. His work is a blend of pure form and combinations, learned
and popular culture, in which Mozart and Bach rub shoulders with Offenbach, and later Schönberg, Busoni
and Hindemith. If the notion of ‘polyphony’ in his work describes the ideal of painting that has reached maturity and
become an art form that reflects itself, this exhibition contends that it also hints at a rich, diverse and unexpected
plurality in his work.
This exhibition invites visitors of all ages to explore the world of this unique artist. An audioguide is available,
and the Musée de la musique has set aside a separate area for young people and families called the ‘Hands-on
Klee workshop’ which provides games and experiments in art and sound to complement the exhibition.