Artwork
God of War
God of War is a drawing by Paul Klee. It dates from 1937 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
This large-format drawing by Paul Klee, created late in his career amidst European political turmoil in the 1930s, combines bold colors, thick lines, and pictographic elements on a newspaper substrate.
Subject & Meaning
The work subtly conveys the artist's anxiety over the escalating crisis in Europe, symbolized by a somber, layered yellow face with heavy eyelids and enigmatic smile, alongside dynamic, unpainted figures in the foreground.
Technique & Style
Klee incorporated the visible newspaper text, including an article on the Spanish Civil War, into his composition, juxtaposing reality with expressive, childlike forms rendered in thick, painterly lines and bold colors.
History & Provenance
Executed on a newspaper page referencing the Spanish Civil War, this drawing reflects Klee's response to the rise of fascism in Europe during the 1930s, though specific provenance details are not provided here.
Context
The piece exemplifies Klee's late-career practice of layering personal artistic expression with the immediacy of current events, blurring the boundaries between art and historical context.
Legacy
This work illustrates Klee's influence on expressing complex emotions through simplified, expressive forms, a technique that can be related to impasto, though the work's specific legacy in the broader art historical canon is not detailed here.
Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Klee (German: ; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist.
