Chinese porcelain 1940

Paul Klee made this watercolour, titled ‘Chinese porcelain,’ at an unknown time, using watercolour on paper. Klee approaches mark-making in a way that feels both intuitive and deliberate. The colours—earthy browns, blues, and greens—blend and bleed into each other, creating a sense of depth. It’s all about the process. The material aspects are quite something. The paint is thin and transparent, allowing the paper's surface to peek through. It’s like Klee is letting the materials speak for themselves, letting the colours mix and mingle. If you zoom in on the lower left, you'll see a lattice of blue lines. There’s something really satisfying about how it’s both structured and totally loose. It feels like a metaphor for Klee’s own process: embracing the accidental. Thinking about other artists, I'm reminded of Cy Twombly, who also found beauty in the seemingly haphazard mark. In the end, art isn't about fixed meanings, it's an ongoing conversation.