Sparse foliage 1934

Paul Klee made 'Sparse Foliage' with watercolour, ink and graphite, and what you see here is a world made of delicate lines and floating colors. It’s like Klee is showing us a garden seen through a dream. The colors are pale, washy – pinks, blues, greens – all dancing together on the textured paper. Look closely and you’ll see the way Klee lets the colors bleed and blend, like he's not trying to control them too much, letting the paint do its own thing. See how the lines scratch and stutter, making a kind of map of the foliage, suggesting more than describing. Notice the square held by a soft yellow glow, it’s not quite in the foreground or background, it's somewhere else. Klee was all about experimenting, about finding new ways to see the world. I see connections with the work of Miró, especially in the way both artists create these playful, imaginative landscapes that feel both familiar and totally strange. Ultimately, though, this piece is about possibility, suggesting that even in the most minimal of marks, there’s a whole world waiting to be discovered.