Dancing Girl

Directly affected by the Nazis’ ascent to power, Paul Klee was dismissed in 1933 from his teaching post at Dusseldorf Academy, where he had spent two years after leaving the Bauhaus. Exiled to Switzerland, Klee suffered physically and psychologically, and his artistic output diminished significantly. Between 1937 and 1940, however, Klee regained artistic momentum and produced several hundred paintings and over 1,500 drawings. In these later works, Klee continued to experiment with unusual media and techniques to produce multidimensional effects. Dancing Girl also reveals Klee’s limitless humor—his signature at the lower right was made by a monogrammed handkerchief, which he laid over the surface to begin his painting.