Autumn Flower 1922

Paul Klee made this tempera painting, Autumn Flower, with dark purples and reds that suggest the end of summer. Look at the way he’s arranged these shapes and colors, almost like he’s setting a stage for us. I can imagine him starting with a dark background, maybe charcoal, then layering on the colors, building up the scene bit by bit. The paint looks thin, like he's using washes of color to create depth and mood. And those flowers—or are they figures?—reaching up with a kind of playful sadness. The one with the sunflower head looks like it’s drooping. It's like he’s capturing a feeling more than a literal image, a memory of the season. The way Klee simplifies forms reminds me of how we draw as kids, trying to capture the essence of something rather than all the details. There's a directness and honesty to that, which makes the painting feel very intimate. It’s a reminder that painting is about feeling and seeing, a kind of visual poetry.