Legend of the Nile 1937

Paul Klee painted Legend of the Nile in a mystery year, using all these cool blues and browns on a grid. It’s like he’s thinking out loud here, one block at a time. I imagine Klee, carefully layering these watercolors, almost like a meditative process. Look at how the blue washes vary in depth, some squares are solid, others are almost translucent, it’s all about texture, how the color sits on the surface. Then you see the brown ink that makes up the boat shape with the little figures inside. There’s this one fish symbol swimming against the blue. It’s like a little rebellious act. It’s a tiny detail, but it feels huge, doesn’t it? Klee always brings to my mind Joan Miró, another artist who loved to make signs and symbols, but in a totally different way. Art is just one long conversation, right?