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With the Dot

Paul Klee

1916

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Early Modern

Dominant colour

With the Dot is a 1916 by Paul Klee, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Paul Klee
When & what style?: 1916
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a small, busy drawing: a floating figure watches over a war scene—zeppelin, headless child, fallen soldier with a helmet that looks like a machine part. Klee made this in 1916, while World War I raged. The title’s dot (•) could be the zeppelin or a dark omen he kept drawing. The lines feel shaky, like a bad dream you can’t shake. Look up more drawings from germany, 20th century to see how other artists showed war.

The story of this work

Overview

Paul Klee made this drawing during World War I. It shows a hovering figure, who could be saintly or demonic, overlooking a scene that includes a zeppelin, a decapitated child, a fallen soldier, and a recoiling (or attacking) figure. The soldier’s helmet displays a handle, implying the mechanized or dehumanized war machine. Klee’s title for the drawing includes the depiction of a point (•), which refers to the circular zeppelin or circle that frequently appeared in his drawings as a menacing omen. In 1915 Klee wrote: “The more horrifying this world becomes the more art becomes abstract; while…

Read the full account in the museum source.