● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 17, South Wall
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026
FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
Swiss-born artist Paul Klee painted this small watercolor in 1939—a year of enormous productivity during which he created over 1,200 works. This burst of creative energy came after several years of physical suffering due to an undiagnosed disease that affected his skin and internal organs. It is hard not to associate Klee's lingering health problems with the melancholy mood of many works from the late 1930s, including this one. Here the artist presents a flower bearing a sad, human expression.
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