Die Equilibristin über dem Sumpf - Kunstsammlung NRW / Online-Sammlung

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Foto: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Information

Artist

Paul Klee

1879
Münchenbuchsee bei Bern, Schweiz

1940
Locarno-Muralto, Schweiz

Work data

Material/Technique

Ink on paper, mounted on cardboard

Dimensions

Sheet: 29.5 × 18 cm
Frame: 54.3 × 44.3 × 3 cm

Signature

Bez. u.M.: "Klee", a.d. Karton u.l.: "1921/59 Die Equilibristin über dem Sumpf"

Accession Number

0064

Catalogue Raisonné

Cat. Rais. Nr. 2650

Acquisition year

1960

Provenance

The pen-and-ink drawing “Die Equilibristin über dem Sumpf” by Paul Klee remained the property of the artist from its creation in 1921 until at least 1934. After that, its trace is lost for years. By 1955 at the latest, it was located at Berggruen & Cie. in Paris. From there, the Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett purchased the work and offered it for sale at its 22nd art auction, at which it was purchased by the Saidenberg Gallery in New York. At an unknown date, G. David Thompson purchased the work 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 drawing “Die Equilibristin über dem Sumpf” from Galerie Beyeler together with a further 87 works by Paul Klee. They formed the core of the collection 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 “Die Equilibristin über dem Sumpf,” 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. Od szkicownika do obrazu/From a Sketchbook to the Painting, 4.4.-26.5.2001, The National Museum, Warschau
Paul Klee. Od szkicownika do obrazu/From a Sketchbook to the Painting, 9.6.-29.7.2001, Muzeum Narodowe, National Museum, Posen
Paul Klee. The Nature of Creation. Works 1914-1940, 16.1.-31.3.2002, Hayward Gallery, London
Paul Klee. Erzählung und Schöpfung, 23.6.-9.12.2006, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura/Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo/The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai
100 x Paul Klee. Geschichte der Bilder, 28.9.2012-20.4.2013, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, K21 Ständehaus
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)