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Movement around a Child

Date
1928
Classification
Drawings & watercolors
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 7 13/16 x 11 7/8 in. (19.8 x 30.2 cm)
sheet (laid paper): 7 13/16 x 11 7/8 in. (19.8 x 30.2 cm)
mount (wove paper): 8 11/16 x 12 1/2 in. (22.1 x 31.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Richard K. Weil, by exchange
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
99:1957
NOTES
The Swiss artist Paul Klee is known for his complex and highly personal approach to Modern art. Klee was enthusiastic about the role that tribal art, folk painting, and children's art could play in helping artists break from Western artistic conventions and achieve a greater intuitive level. In this humorous work, Klee represents a child's growth in response to the stimuli from his environment. The many ellipses surrounding the toddler's head suggest that he is caught in overwhelming forces of excitement and disorientation. The oversize head evokes the distortions of scale found in children's artworks which Klee admired for their creativity and innocence.

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