Kosmische Composition - Kunstsammlung NRW / Online-Sammlung

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Foto: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Information

Artist

Paul Klee

1879
Münchenbuchsee bei Bern, Schweiz

1940
Locarno-Muralto, Schweiz

Work data

Material/Technique

Oil on cardboard, mounted on wood (not by the artist)

Dimensions

Image: 49 × 41.5 × 3.3 cm
Frame: 57.4 × 50 × 7.4 cm

Signature

Bez. l.: "Klee 919. 165.", verso a.d. Klebezettel: "1919 165 Kosmische Composition Klee"

Accession Number

0004

Catalogue Raisonné

Cat. Rais. Nr. 2229

Acquisition year

1960

Provenance

From its creation in 1919 until presumably 1921, the painting “Kosmische Composition” by Paul Klee remained the property of the artist, who gave it to his art dealer Hans Goltz on consignment around 1920. It may have belonged to Gert Heinrich Wollheim from 1921, but there is no certain proof of this provenance. Wollheim recalled owning a work with this title, but it could also have been another work that Goltz offered as “Kosmische Composition” in 1920. In 1941, the work was put on loan by the Nierendorf Gallery for a traveling exhibition and can be traced back to at least 1945 in the collection of Helen R. Resor. At an unknown date, G. David Thompson purchased it for his collection, where it remained until it was sold to the Galerie Beyeler in Basel in 1960. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia subsequently purchased the painting “Kosmische Composition” from Galerie Beyeler together with a further 87 works by Paul Klee. They formed the basis of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, which was founded in 1961.

Between 2009 and 2012, several freelance provenance researchers examined the origins (provenance) of all works in the collection of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen as part of a comprehensive research project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation. The focus was on all works created before 1945. For the painting “Kosmische Composition,” the ownership history during the National Socialist period (1933–1945) could not be fully clarified. For this reason, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen commissioned a more in-depth investigation into the history of this work in 2025.

If you have any questions or information regarding this work, please contact us:
Dr. Vivien Trommer
Head of Collection
trommer@kunstsammlung.de

Credit line

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Exhibitions

Paul Klee. Konstruktion - Intuition, 7.12.1990-2.3.1991, Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim
Paul Klee - Im Zeichen der Teilung, 20.1.-16.4.1995, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Art for Life's Sake, 24.3.-3.6.2000, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura
Unser 20. Jahrhundert - Meisterwerke von Picasso bis Beuys, 14.7.-28.10.2000, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Paul Klee. Kleinode. Die Sammlung, 22.6.-25.8.2001, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
100 x Paul Klee. Geschichte der Bilder, 28.9.2012-20.4.2013, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, K21 Ständehaus
Nach Ägypten! Die Reisen von Max Slevogt und Paul Klee, 5.9.2014-3.1.2015, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, K20 Grabbeplatz
Paul Klee, 14.1.-30.4.2016, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Paul Klee! Meisterwerke aus der Kunstsammlung NRW, 20.3.-18.7.2015, Kunsthalle Emden
museum global: Prolog: Paul Klee. Eine Sammlung auf Reisen, 12.10.2018-9.3.2019, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (K20 Grabbeplatz, Kleehalle)
Opening the Space. Fragen der Gegenwart an Werke der Sammlung / Works from the Collection in Light of Current Issues, 26.3.-28.8.2021, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (K20 Grabbeplatz), Henkel Galerie