Grundfeste 1922

Paul Klee’s *Grundfeste* is an exercise in seeing how much you can do with so little. The background colors are pale and watery, like they've been stained into the paper, with rectangles and lines floating on top. Look closely at the lines – they are kinda scratchy. I can imagine Klee making this, almost like a child, curious about the world, reducing it to the most fundamental shapes. He doesn’t want to get bogged down in detail. Klee probably used a ruling pen for the black lines; they remind me of architectural plans. I imagine him carefully measuring, drawing, and re-drawing. That perfect circle in the upper right corner really glows! Artists are always in conversation. This reminds me of some of Joan Miró’s paintings. Ultimately, *Grundfeste* seems like a playful investigation into seeing. It leaves a lot to the imagination and has a visual language that is both universal and deeply personal.