Cold City 1921

Paul Klee made this watercolour painting of Cold City by layering transparent washes on paper. You can sense him building up the forms, like a little architectural model emerging from the depths of his imagination. I can just imagine Klee, with his gentle sensibility, moving his brush across the page. Each stroke, a careful consideration. There are multiple triangles and rectangles in muted greys and ochres, like buildings huddled together, their shapes softened by the cool atmosphere. Those little dark windows are so haunting and regular. It reminds me of those early Giorgio de Chiricos with their uncanny stillness. The paint is thin, almost ethereal, creating a sense of distance and mystery. Klee, like all great artists, was in conversation with the world, translating what he saw and felt into something uniquely his own. "Cold City" is a testament to his ability to find poetry in the everyday, transforming urban structures into a dreamscape of color and form.