Paul Klee

Galerie Europe, Paris
Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
Paul Haim & Co., Paris
Galerie Daniel Malingue, Paris
Waddington Galleries, Ltd., London (acquired in 1987)
Satani Gallery, Tokyo (acquired in 1988)
Private Collection, Japan (acquried in 1991)
Acquired from the above

Tokyo, Satani Gallery, Paul Klee, 1990, no. 21

The Paul Klee Foundation & Museum of Fine Arts, Bern, eds., Paul Klee: Catalogue raisonné, 1927-1930, vol. V, London, 2001, no. 5349, illustrated p. 514

This work is in overall good condition. Executed on cream wove paper mounted on card by the artist. The pigments are fresh and well preserved and there are no tears, paper losses, or planar distortions visible in the sheet. The artist's card mount is mildly acidic and there is some light discoloration to the sheet. Faint spots of foxing visible throughout the recto and verso of the card mount but this has not permeated through to the primary paper except for a small area in the lower left quadrant. Small remnants of old framer's tape on the verso. Otherwise, fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Fliehende Kinder (Children Fleeing) was executed during a transformative stylistic period in Klee’s career. In his 1920 publication Creative Credo, Klee argued, “internal stability is achieved in a work of art by establishing a dynamic balance between ‘complimentary energies’” (Kathryn Porter Aichele, “Paul Klee and the Energetics-Atomistics Controversy,” in Leonardo, April 1993, p. 309).  While teaching at the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1931, Klee instructed his students “on the form-generating potential of line” by likening corresponding energies to “linear movements in two directions” (ibid.).

Klee implemented these teachings in Fliehende Kinder (Children Fleeing), with its striking verticals and geometric shapes distinguishing the figures from the horizontals he used to create the locale from which they flee. However, the diagonals that indicate propulsion forward are grounded by the horizontal line connecting the figures’ feet and paralleling the lines about them, thereby grounding them and entrapping them in their space.  As Will Grohmann and Edith Karush observe, “Klee draws things which do not exist but which might exist, and he enlarges our knowledge by much that is invented and perceived.  The world in its final state becomes a world in motion which renews itself every hour. To realize pictorially, through graphic means, unsuspected conceptions was Klee’s self-set task.  It is up to the observer to decide whether he has solved it” (Will Grohmann & Edith Karush, “Paul Klee,” in Chicago Review, February 1954, p. 82).