Barnes Takeout: Art Talk on Paul Klee's Place Signs

Excavate below the picture surface in Paul Klee’s Place Signs with Amy Gillette, collections research associate.
When you're back #seeingtheBarnes in person, look for Place Signs in Room 17 of our Collection Galleries.
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[@garybonas5366]

Thank you, Amy! Very nice program. And thanks to Kaelin for making a cameo appearance. Klee seems to like to work with geometric shapes and he is a master of the color palette , at least to my tastes.

[@janetfalon713]

Amy, you ROCK (archeology pun, btw) at bringing together a variety of ideas and items to show how they might have influenced the artwork we're looking at. Looking at Place Signs after seeing the archeological grid just brought it all together for me. Thank you.

[@captainwgg]

A tour de force, Amy! I was pleased to see that the final daily takeout concerned Klee, one of my most favorite artists. When I saw that you were the presenter, I braced myself for the wide ranging discourse to come! The musical theme in Klee’s work was somewhat familiar to me (e.g. The Twittering Machine), but then the excursion thru the wonderful light and color of the Mediterranean, which so influenced color in his work. And, finally, the trip thru archeological digs and the city grid, echoed in this work. Thank you once again, Amy! I have loved your presentations.

[@BarnesFoundation]

Glad you enjoyed this episode Bill! We hope you tune in this Friday at noon for our first weekly Barnes Takeout episode.

[@susanthorkelson1655]

Amy, I love that you give us so much to think about! Thank you so much! I’ve enjoyed every one of your presentations!

[@patriciazandstra8511]

Thanks Amy. As usual, you brought together so many interesting things to think about. I always appreciate your creative perspective.

[@carolwalsh8902]

So intriguing to hear about Klee & Kandinsky...& the connection with music. Wow, what insight to also connect Klee with Cezanne, brilliant! As always, thank you so much for preparing a talk that that is so carefully researched.

[@kathybrims2581]

Thank you Amy, I have loved and enjoyed each and every one of your talks, especially this on one of my favourite artists, along with Kandinsky. Your back stories and contextualisation really bring the subject work to life, that Klee was a cat lover makes him all the more special. An excellent final Takeout, you must be thrilled that The Barnes has reopened today!

[@kaelinjewell4962]

Obviously I'm biased, but what a FUN talk. Thank you, Amy! :)

[@pamelaroesch707]

Much to consider here! An interesting painting and artist, giving us a mystery to contemplate and enjoy. I always enjoy the back story, and the history of the artist. I really enjoyed seeing several other paintings that compare or inspired this. My only problem is hearing as fast as Amy speaks, since my ears are much older than she :) Enjoyable as always!! Thank you!!

[@josephmatthews558]

LOVED THIS aMY YOU REALLY MADE MY BRAIN WORK OUT ! yES MY GRANDSON TRIED TO EXPLAIN mINECRAFT AND NOW i THINK i GET IT!!! mARIA

[@josephmatthews558]

Sorry about preceeding comment I was trying to rush before it shut down

[@carlrouth7842]

The place has, top view, signs full of duality of man, nature, and life, i.e.: The living green manor contrasted by the dark purple cellar, Red and black ladders, with the former for climbing trees to gather fruit, and the later unused, possibly for descending into the basement, Red and black baskets the former with living green fruit, the later bare, Variety of checkered red, blue and green hatched, gardens, fields, orchards surrounded by the green trees representing natural forests, The red field with two people, "like eyes", head and shoulders, working the harvest and putting the fruits into bunches shown by the small white triangles and dots. Contrasting symbols of life, the black spade for digging (bad / the end ) vs the red cross (good / the harvest necessary for the contentiousness of life) that also has its associated religious teachings of sacrifice, planting and harvesting. The place signs, of our existence, in this duality of life are everywhere. Thank you, Amy, as always great selection and talk.

[@hobbes4583]

Your ideas about more and kandinsky's musical inspirations made me think of this visual poem by oskar fischinger: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bInGZZpmZat5gs0