Review: Paul Klee, Tate Modern

Modern master: Paul Klee’s "Fire at Full Moon", 1933, (Museum Folkwang, Germany)

What is it? The EY Exhibition at Tate Modern, which provides a thorough, in-depth look at the popular Modernist artist, taking a chronological long-view.

The Independent says: “There is something elusive, unknowable indeed, about his compositions, hovering as they do between natural observation and imagination … It is a delicacy of feeling that has made him, however popular, seem less imposing than his great Modernist contemporaries and less obviously influential. Tate Modern clearly intends to change his standing if not his popularity with its autumn blockbuster devoted to his work. The show may not have very much new to say. It is, after all, only 10 years since the last major show devoted to the artist. But this one aims to be the most comprehensive … You can never have too much of Klee. The joy of his work, however small, and however persistent his themes, is that he seems so endlessly fresh in the result … Whether you come much closer to understanding the springs of this reticent man is more questionable.”

They say: The Guardian: “His paintings take a lot of looking at, and seem inexhaustible. And yet. The experience of looking at a great many Klees at one go is like eating too many chocolates … it is often hard to stay alert, and to keep one’s curiosity alive, even when Klee’s inventiveness animates every single work.”

The Times: “for all its admirable rigour, you can’t help but find this show rather heavy work. As you trawl through a labyrinth of no fewer than 17 galleries, poring over picture numbers, you start to lose touch with all sense of easy enjoyment. Playful tinkerings turn into an academic long haul. Here is Paul Klee for the anorak.”

You say: @LeBoYe: “A must-see… Poetic colour abounds !”

@HappyHalstead: “first Chagall now Klee, wonderful romance, colour and emotion. :-D”

@ajdeho: “Fuckyeah, Paul Klee at Tate Modern starts today. A giant.“

The details: to 9 Mar; tate.org.uk