The Man Under the Pear Tree 1921

Paul Klee made this painting called ‘The Man Under the Pear Tree’ using watercolor, in his own time. It's full of these tender, translucent washes, where light seems to glow from within. I imagine Klee building it up, layer by layer, letting the colors mix and mingle on the paper, embracing whatever accidents might occur. It’s funny because there's this figure, lounging, all checkerboard and stripes, gazing up at a tree that’s more like a geometric puzzle, hung with these teardrop-shaped fruit. Maybe Klee saw the world as a series of shapes and patterns, constantly shifting and reforming. You can tell this by the different shapes that repeat throughout the painting. The guy under the pear tree, seems so relaxed, so content to just be part of the picture. Klee was in dialogue with other painters, like Kandinsky and Picasso, and you see the conversation between them playing out in their work. Painting is like this ongoing exchange of ideas. It’s embodied expression, full of ambiguity and uncertainty, where fixed meanings dissolve, giving way to possibility.