Still Life with Thistle Bloom 1919

Paul Klee made this “Still Life with Thistle Bloom” using oil on canvas, but we don’t know exactly when. The way Klee scratches into the paint is really something. Look at that flower in the center, kind of floating, with all those raw edges. I love the mix of delicacy and roughness, you know? It’s not just about what he’s painting, but how he’s painting. The colours are dark, earthy. But then he adds these touches of blue and white that give it a bit of a shimmer, like it’s lit from within. It all feels so intuitive, like he’s feeling his way through the painting, discovering the image as he goes. It reminds me a bit of Arthur Dove, that way of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. And it shows me that art is a journey, not a destination.