Paul Klee

Paul Klee (1879–1940) was a German-Swiss painter and graphic artist who became known for his unique combination of Expressionist, Cubist, and Surrealist elements, as well as his use of color, symbolism, and imagination. He was born in Münchenbuchsee near Bern and studied painting in Munich. After traveling to Italy and France, a trip to Tunisia with August Macke in 1914 inspired him to become a painter. From 1920, Klee taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau; in 1931 he became a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, but in 1933 he was forced to emigrate under pressure from the National Socialists. In 1937, his works were confiscated as “degenerate,” and he died in 1940 in Muralto, Switzerland.