The Importance of Musical Notation for the Development of Paul Klee’s Abstract Art

Authors

  • Anna V. Alekseeva Repin St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Author

Keywords:

Music-painting analogy, Paul Klee, musical notation

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the role of musical notation in the development of Paul Klee’s abstract art. The aim of this research is to prove the existence of music-painting analogies in artist’s works, which were denied by some scholars (in particular, by S. Partch), and also to reveal the meaning of some of the musical signs in Klee’s art.
Being a professional musician, Klee was a good hand at notation. A line in his works goes as a melody, written by notes. It is located within the scheme of vertical and horizontal lines, therefore the image is flat. Signs of notation give their musical meaning to Klee’s graphic and painted works. Revelation of these features infl uences the principles of analysis of the master’s works and gives a possibility for the new interpretation

Author Biography

  • Anna V. Alekseeva, Repin St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
    Alexeeva, Anna V. — Ph.D. student, Repin St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. 17 Universitetskaia embankment, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 199034.

References

Düchting H. Paul Klee. Painting Music. Munich, London, New-York, Prestel Publishing, 2012. 111 p.

Kagan A. Paul Klee. Art & Music. Ithaca, London, Cornell University Press, 1983. 176 p.

Klee P. The Diaries of Paul Klee. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press, 1964. 434 p.

Klee P. T e Thinking Eye: the Notebooks of Paul Klee. New-York, G. Wittenborn, 1961. 541 p.

Partsch S. Paul Klee. 1879–1940. Poet of Colours, Master of Lines. Los Angeles, Taschen, 2011. 96 p.

Verdi P. Musical Infl uences on the Art of Paul Klee. Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 1969, vol. 3, pp. 81–107.

Vergo P. The Music of Painting. Music, Modernism and the Visual Arts from the Romantics to John Cage. London, Phaidon, 2010. 368 p.

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Published

2014-10-11

Issue

Section

Western Art of the 20th Century and Theory of Art

How to Cite

Alekseeva, A. V. (2014). The Importance of Musical Notation for the Development of Paul Klee’s Abstract Art. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art, 4, 339–345. https://publ.actual-art.org/aptha/article/view/10288