Klee, Tightrope Walker

Tightrope Walker/ Paul Klee

In Paul Klee’s Tightrope Walker (1923, Munich) (National Galleries of Scotland), there is a man walking on string. Standing calmly on the dangerous and thin line, there is nothing that holds the man safe, but rather, he is holding a long stick that seems to be much longer than his height. The viewers cannot tell whether the man is afraid, frustrated or excited to be on the string because he does not have a face. His body is composed of geometric shapes such as circles, rectangles, squares and a few extra lines, but the man does not have an eye or mouth that shows his emotion (National Galleries of Scotland). Below the man, there is a complicated set of geometric lines and shapes that do not quite create a realistic space, but rather an imaginary world of Klee. It is interesting to see that the lines are extremely straight. . The sharp angles created by these straight lines bring a gloomy mood to a painting even though the subject of the painting is very bright. Also, interestingly enough, the background of the painting is very similar to a Swiss flag, where Klee is from.
The time period Klee drew this painting was right after the WW1. Switzerland stayed a neutral power in both wars, but because of its resources, all nations involved in the war were interested in gaining Switzerland. Especially during WW1, even though it kept its neutral state, Switzerland still became a battleground for the Allies and Central powers (Wikipedia). As Klee watched the whole Europe becoming the battle ground, he describes Europe as the tightrope walker who is walking in moments of danger. When Klee created this piece, it was while he was spending time as a teacher at German Bauhaus school of art and his art was heavily influenced by the cubism and the social occurrences(National Galleries of Scotland).
Even under the hopeless and desperate situations of war, the Tightrope Walker shares a message of hope. Even if the tightrope walker is taking risks of falling down on to the ground, he still hasn’t fallen on to the ground. Instead, he tries to balance himself out and takes another step towards the end of the line which will lead him down to the safe ground. Just as Giotto’s Lamentation delivers the hopeful crow waiting for Jesus to resurrect, Klee shows hope of Europe to revive after the war through the fearless tightrope walker.