The Man of Confusion
- Date
- 1939
- Material
- Oil and watercolor on jute
- made in
- Switzerland, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 212
- Dimensions
- 26 1/4 × 19 7/8 in. (66.7 × 50.5 cm)
framed: 27 1/4 × 20 7/8 × 1 1/4 in. (69.2 × 53 × 3.2 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer Jr.
- Rights
- © 2022 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Object Number
- 410:1952
NOTES
A doll breaks into pieces, its head, hands, and limbs scattered on a red background. Paul Klee cited children's drawings as a major influence on both the style and subject of his art. He made this disorienting work at the end of his life, a period marked by illness and exile. Persecuted by the Nazis in Germany, he fled to Switzerland and developed symptoms of scleroderma, a painful disease that caused his death in 1940 at only 60.
Provenance
1939
Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris, France [1]
1939 - 1942
Nierendorf Gallery (Karl Nierendorf), New York, NY, USA, acquired from Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler [2]
1942/10 - 1952
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer (d.1968), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Nierendorf Gallery [3]
1952 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer [4]
Notes:
[1] Confirmed through archival material (correspondence and a shipping list dated November 17, 1939) by Eva Wiederkehr Sladeczek, head of the Paul Klee catalogue raisonné project at the Kunstmuseum Bern [Email dated July 1, 2002, SLAM document files].
[2] See note [2].
[3] Joseph Pulitzer acquired the painting from Nierendorf Gallery in October 1942 [Chetham, Charles Scott. "Modern Painting, Drawing & Sculpture Collected by Louise and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr." Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, vol. 1, 1957, cat. 34].
[4] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 4, 1952.
Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris, France [1]
1939 - 1942
Nierendorf Gallery (Karl Nierendorf), New York, NY, USA, acquired from Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler [2]
1942/10 - 1952
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer (d.1968), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Nierendorf Gallery [3]
1952 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer [4]
Notes:
[1] Confirmed through archival material (correspondence and a shipping list dated November 17, 1939) by Eva Wiederkehr Sladeczek, head of the Paul Klee catalogue raisonné project at the Kunstmuseum Bern [Email dated July 1, 2002, SLAM document files].
[2] See note [2].
[3] Joseph Pulitzer acquired the painting from Nierendorf Gallery in October 1942 [Chetham, Charles Scott. "Modern Painting, Drawing & Sculpture Collected by Louise and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr." Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, vol. 1, 1957, cat. 34].
[4] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 4, 1952.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.