With an umbrella 1939

Paul Klee made this painting, With an Umbrella, with oil transfer and watercolour on paper. Look at that deep blue ground, almost like a wall, against which these simple shapes seem to float. It makes me think about the way Klee combined playfulness and depth. That big red circle, it's the body maybe? And above it, a small grey oval for the head? The yellow form hovering on top like a hat or a thought bubble. Klee's lines are so economical and yet convey so much. It's like he’s distilling the essence of a person, or an idea, into its simplest form. I think of him as a kind of visual poet. Klee was always experimenting, taking cues from everywhere—children’s drawings, dreams, music. And he passed that generosity on to other painters, like me, like you! The conversation never stops.