I have loved the art of Paul Klee for decades. His whimsy, brilliant use of color, and evocative abstract works are an endless source of fascination and inspiration. He is also a personal hero. During his last five years, Klee lived with scleroderma—and despite physical limitations, this was his most prolific creative period.
Born in Switzerland in 1879, raised in Bern, Klee studied art in Munich and eventually settled there in 1906. His imaginative works and art theory grew out of his involvement with Der Blaue Reiter group of German Expressionists, including Vasily Kandinsky, August Macke, and Franz Marc, as well as his travels to Italy and Tunisia, and his years during the Weimar Republic teaching at the Bauhaus and the Düsseldorf Academy. In 1933, the Nazis dismissed him from his post in Düsseldorf, and he was labeled a “degenerate” artist.
Klee and his wife, Lily, returned to Bern and lived there until he died at age 60 in 1940. I have long wondered if the trauma of exile, losing his close circle of fellow artists and his reputation, as well as the ability to exhibit his work, all contributed to his illness. His symptoms of systemic sclerosis emerged after a bout with the measles. I’ve asked my rheumatologist at Boston Medical about Klee, and while there is no clear answer to how he contracted scleroderma (same for all of us with the disease, even 90 years later), he explained the latest theories are that scleroderma is triggered by a virus. Another theory that I just discovered is that Klee’s exposure to certain chemicals in his oil paints and thinners may have been a contributing factor.
In any case, whenever I go to art museums, I seek out Klee’s works. So, this summer, after our very intense visit to Israel, we traveled to Switzerland for a few days in Bern to visit the Zentrum Paul Klee, the largest collection and archive of his art in the world—a visit at the top of my bucket list. I was hoping to see some of his famous paintings of abstract angels—playful, sorrowful, mysterious, comforting. Unfortunately, none were on display, nor any of his largest paintings. But the standing biographical exhibition did not disappoint, as I discovered some of his smaller works that I had only seen in books. And there were also three of Klee’s wonderful puppets that he made for his son, Felix. After we toured the museum, we walked around the Zentrum grounds, the sculpture garden, and paid our respects to Paul Klee’s grave.
Here are photos of a few of my favorite art works and the museum, as well as Bern from a scenic overlook at a different location. Hope you enjoy the view . . .
Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.
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