Kasperltheater 1910

Hans Kalmsteiner made this delightful little sheet of illustrations called "Kasperltheater" at the beginning of the 20th century. The way he uses flat blocks of color feels both charming and deliberate, like he’s figuring it out as he goes. Take the top left square, for instance. The white rabbit is so round and simple, but then you see the character next to it, towering over the poor bunny with a baseball bat. There’s something unsettling about that scene, a darkness hinted at in the economy of the forms. The palette of reds, blues and yellows is childlike, but there is an adult complexity in the narrative. Looking at the entire piece, I am reminded of the work of artists like Paul Klee, who also tapped into a kind of playful surrealism, balancing whimsy with profound human themes.