Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
Paul Klee - La collection d'Ernst Beyeler - Musee de Orangerie, Paris, France
This exhibition is dedicated to Ernst Beyeler a passionate collector of Paul Klee's works. Beyeler died in February 2010. During his life time he made a significant contribution to access to the work of modern masters such as Mondrian, Giacommetti, Leger and Klee. The Ernst Beyeler Foundation ensures the continuance of his lifes work.
The exhibition is exceptionally well designed for it's purpose. The aim is clear from the moment that the viewer enters the space, the display of Klee's work as a passage from one artistic enlightenment to another works superbly.
I particularly found the supporting wall text in three languages to be very helpful in understanding Klee's motivations. For my part I came away with a more accommodating understanding of abstraction, though I still regard it as an aberration of limited value in the progression of Western art. The text itself was a feature of the spatial design that I found intriguing, even in the suppressed lighting of the space with sepia coloured walls the grey text was readable (being long sighted and generally requiring glasses to read I was able to read the text without glasses).
The nature of the paintings and their intentions is of interest even if they are not exceptional works that one can visually remember.
I recommend this exhibition to anyone that can make it to the Musee de Orangerie
If you are unable to go, then the "Connaisance des Arts" booklet titled "Paul Klee 1879-1940, La Collection d'Ernst Beyeler" is a good purchase to make.
author: Neil Miley