Sept. 28, 2026

Ep 100: Paul Klee's Pluralism (Plus Magritte)

Show Notes

Paul Klee loved working in a wide variety of styles at once in his paintings: abstract, representational, runic or symbolic. His oeuvre literally contains multitudes. I recently saw a show of his late works in New York at the Jewish Museum and was amazed at how many mediums and approaches to painting were on display. This episode honors him and his radical reconsideration of Painting with a side detour on Magritte. Come along for a wild ride!

Klee works mentioned: Around the Fish 1926, Suffering Fruit 1934, Struck from the List 1933, This Star Teaches Bending 1940, Angel, Still Female 1939, Drinking Companion 1931

Magritte works mentioned: Le Stropiat (version 1 and 2-both 1948), Jean-Marie 1948, A Stroke of Luck 1948, Seasickness 1948, The Famine 1948, The Pictorial Content 1948

Host note: “The Famine” cheekily referenced the characters in a popular French comic series of the day called Adventures of the Pieds Nickelés (nickel plated feet)* created by Louis Forton and told the story of 3 bumbling and good for nothing criminals who constantly fail at their mission.

*a French term for lazy slackers

See more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Pieds_Nickel%C3%A9s

Artists mentioned: Paul Klee, Hilma af Klint, Agnes Martin, Giorgio Morandi, Hannah Wilke, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Emil Nolde, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Rousseau, Ludwig Meidner, Richard Seewald, Oskar Kokoschka, Henri Matisse, Giorgio de Chirico, Gerhard Richter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, André Breton, Diego Velázquez (Las Meninas 1656)

Writers mentioned: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sarah Gottesman, Charles W. Haxthausen, Wilhelm Hausenstein, Louis Scutenaire, George Kubler, Michael Foucault

Links:

Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds exhibit at the Jewish Museum 2026

https://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/paul-klee-other-possible-worlds/

Paul Klee’s Bauhaus Assignments:

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-how-to-be-an-artist-according-to-paul-klee

Picasso’s Return to Order Period:

https://theculturalcritic.com/picassos-conflict-how-the-great-war-caused-him-to-radically-change-his-style/

Magritte's Vache Period:

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-9-times-historys-greatest-artists-made-bad-artworks

https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-11-autumn-2007/ill-find-way-slip-great-big-incongruity-time-time

https://www.moma.org/artists/3692-rene-magritte

Hannah Wilke's Flower Series: