By Margherita Cole on July 6, 2023

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Wow, what a remarkable collection of art history notes handwritten by a pioneer of Bauhaus.

The 20th century ushered in many significant art movements. One of the most influential that emerged from this period was Bauhaus. Originating in Germany at a school of the arts, this movement dominated paintings, graphics, architecture, and even interiors in European art throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Swiss-born artist Paul Kleewas one of its early pioneers, teaching at Bauhaus for 10 years alongside other icons like Wassily Kandinsky. The Zentrum Paul Klee—a museum in Bern, Switzerland—is sharing 3,900 pages from Klee’s personal notebooks which display some of the detailed notes he made for his classes.

These journals include hand-written entries in German and numerous sketches and diagrams covering topics like color theory and design. Presumably, these notes were reworked into the lectures Klee gave at Bauhaus during his long tenure. While momentous during their own time, his essays on modern art are still regarded as an invaluable source of the principles of modern art. In fact, his lectures were even collected and published in two volumes titled The Thinking Eye and The Nature of Nature. […]

h/t: [Open Culture]

All images via Zentrum Paul Klee.

More: 3,900 Pages From Paul Klee’s Personal Notebooks Are Now Online