A painting with the appearance of a map in shades of brown and gray with a red disk top left.
Photo © Courtesy of Ali Elai-Camerarts
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Photo © Courtesy of Ali Elai-Camerarts

The painting has various shapes positioned across the top and down the right side. The shapes are unevenly outlined with smaller uneven shapes within. A black line shifts across and down at a ninety-degree angle at mid-point, left of the downward line are to arrows, one bold black, pointing down, one red, it points right. A red disk on a gray background is in the upper left. A dark brown rectangle is placed in the center across the top. There are darker brown patches and lines across the entire drawing.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2015.82
People
Paul Klee, Swiss (Münchenbuchsee near Bern, Switzerland 1879 - 1940 Muralto-Locarno, Switzerland)
Title
Dried Up Cataract
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Toter Katarakt
Alternate Title: Dead Cataract
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1930
Culture
Swiss
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/353952

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor on primed canvas
Dimensions
55.9 × 45.7 cm (22 × 18 in.)
framed: 61 × 51 × 4.5 cm (24 × 20 1/16 × 1 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: u.l.: Klee / 1930

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Alfred Flechtheim (to 1930); Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Paris (1930-1934); Jsrael Ber Neumann (from 1934); Curt Valentin [Buchholz Gallery, New York], sold; to Joy and Marion Levy (1950-2002); Joy Levy (2002-2015), by bequest; to the Busch-Reisinger Museum, 2015.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Cat. Rais. #5301

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Bequest of Joy C. and Marion J. Levy, Jr.
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Accession Year
2015
Object Number
2015.82
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 1500 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Expressionism-Interwar), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/10/2016 - 03/28/2024

Subjects and Contexts

  • The Bauhaus

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu