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The point of departure for the present publication is the strikingly innovative artistic spirit of the Russian avant-garde, along with the "Socialist Realism" that became established after the revolution. It addresses the radical conceptions of the revolutionary artistic movements of the early 20th century and their significance for the breakthroughs to abstraction and Constructivism. It also traces the implications and the traces of "Socialist Realism" as an ideologically motivated pictorial formula up to the present day. Also investigated is the actuality and viability of revolutionary ideas and art with reference to numerous examples of both abstract and representational art. For those interested in the works and ideas of these movements, and in the artistic consequences of the October Revolution in general, this sumptuous publication offers fascinating insights and a comprehensive overview.

With their pioneering method using dots, the artists of Pointillism no longer directed their gaze only towards the imitation of reality. In their paintings between 1886 and 1930 their dots, colour and light assumed an independent existence to create masterpieces of unprecedented brightness and colour diversity. The works by the inventors of this technique, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, marked the beginning of this exuberant outburst of colour. Works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Carlo Carrá, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee demonstrate how artists made a study of Pointillism during the 20th century. Vincent van Gogh contributed to the way that modernist painters abandoned Pointillism. More than 100 selected works, including paintings, watercolours and drawings, illuminate the dawn of a new era which this art movement was responsible for bringing about: the beginning of modern painting.

The Tunisian journey is surely one of the most popular chapters in art history. When Paul Klee and his fellow painters August Macke and Louis Moilliet left for Tunisia in April 1914, a cornucopia of impressions awaited them: Tunis, St. Germain, Hammamet, Kairouan, and the people, architecture and scenery of the country inspired the three artists to produce a multitude of watercolors and drawings. They depart from the anecdotal Orientalism of the nineteenth century, abstracting their motifs and transforming them into ornamental shapes and crystalline structures. Their surprising, innovative images are a highlight of early Modernism. Klee went the farthest. For him, color became the most important creative tool; he dissolved the object in planes of color, and the visual construct became a pattern that he covered in arabesques and symbols. This profound publication follows in the footsteps of our extremely successful book on the Tunisian journey (1982), a milestone in the history of our publishing company.(German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3762-3, French edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3761-6) Exhibition schedule: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, March 15–June 22, 2014

Paul Klee (1879–1940) hat eine einzigartige, äußert beliebte Werkgruppe geschaffen: Höhere Wesen stehen darin nicht nur für Spiritualität, sondern auch für Skepsis und Zweifel gegenüber Religion und Glaubensfragen. Das ist der Grund ihrer Popularität: Klees Engel sind dem menschlichen Dasein verhaftet, mit Schwächen und Schönheitsfehlern, vergesslich und hässlich, sorgenvoll oder verspielt – bisweilen teuflisch. Für den Künstler schließen Gut und Böse einander nicht aus, sondern ergänzen sich schöpferisch. Rund 80 Engelsdarstellungen, die vorwiegend in Klees letzten Lebensjahren entstanden, spiegeln sowohl die Angst vor dem Tod und das körperliche Gebrechen des unheilbar Erkrankten wider als auch dessen altersweisen Witz und Humor, seine Heiterkeit und Gelassenheit. Neben biografischen Referenzen und ikonografischen Sentenzen beleuchtet die Publikation einzelne Arbeiten wie das Werk Angelus Novus , das Walter Benjamin zur legendären Denkfigur des »Engels der Geschichte« inspirierte. (Englische Ausgabe ISBN 978-3-7757-3418-9) Ausstellung: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern 26.10.2012–20.1.2013 | Museum Folkwang, Essen 1.2.–14.4.2013 | Hamburger Kunsthalle 26.4.–7.7.2013

"The realization that children have their own type of childish creativity and the potential to express themselves through art was a crucial driving force in Paul Klee's own creative work: from pieces displaying the spontaneous texture of finger painting to his Dada-esque puppets made of found materials. Animated by Klee, after World War II painters from the group of artists known as CoBrA in turn lighted on the child's visual world as a source of inspiration for their new, revolutionary artistic departure. This publication sheds light on the little known history of the reception of Klee by CoBrA artists Asger Jorn, Karel Appel, Constant, Corneille, and others. In a dialogue and confrontation with the eruptive works of the CoBrA artists, we see Klee's oeuvre from a new, surprisingly wild side. The visual exchange is marked by expressivity and divided into thematic fields, such as play and mischief, imaginary worlds of animals and plants, or grotesque faces and masks."--Publisher's website.

This generously illustrated, expertly annotated publication presents all the riches of Paul Klee’s floral paintings, works by an artist whom the natural world provided an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Der handliche Kurzführer ist ein 'Muss' für alle Besucher des Zentrum Paul Klee: Großzügig bebildert und leicht verständlich geschrieben, führt er in kompakter Form durch Leben und Werk von Paul Klee, lässt die zahlreichen Höhepunkte der Sammlung Revue passieren, beschreibt die außergewöhnliche Architektur von Renzo Piano und berichtet über die vielfältigen Aktivitäten des Museums. Der informative Band bereitet Sie damit bestens auf einen Besuch des Zentrum Paul Klee vor, zugleich ist er - nach einem Aufenthalt in Bern - ein attraktives Souvenir zu einem günstigen Preis. (Deutsche Ausgabe erhältlich ISBN 3-7757-1535-5; französische Ausgabe erhältlich ISBN 3-7757-1537-1; italienische Ausgabe erhältlich ISBN 3-7757-1538-X)