Tightrope Walker

In this color print, a spindly man perches precariously upon a tenuous structure which seems to defy the laws of gravity and logic. A group of zigzag lines like an accordion suggest a ladder at the left, but the rest of the scaffolding lacks either utility or function. The Swiss artist Paul Klee used the image of the tightrope walker in his teachings at the Bauhaus-a progressive art and design school that operated from 1919 to 1933 in Germany- as a symbol of balance and stability within the enclosed world of the picture. In this work, the man tips his balancing rod to the left, counteracting the downward turn of diagonal lines in the scaffolding and the slanting white cross in the pink field behind him.