Captive 1940

Paul Klee painted ‘Captive’ with oil transfer and watercolour on gauze, mounted on cardboard. Look at that dreamy blue-green. It feels like looking at a world behind a veil, or through water. The black lines feel decisive, like a sharpie, mapping out a face, a body, maybe some bars. I wonder what Klee was thinking about when he made this? Was he feeling trapped, or observing someone else's confinement? Maybe it's not literal, but more about being stuck in a situation, or a way of thinking. It makes me think about the conversations artists have with each other, across time. I am thinking of Guston's late paintings, where he is trapped by his feelings. Think about the surface here: the gauze adds a layer of texture, a kind of scrim that softens the image. It is hard to see as he makes it easy on the eye. The oil transfer technique feels like a way of embracing chance, letting the materials have their say. It embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for many readings and interpretations over fixed meanings.