保尔•克列(Paul Klee 1879-1940)二十世纪十大画家之一的瑞士籍怪杰。生于瑞士般尼区乡下，父亲是德国种的巴伐利亚人，擅弹风琴，係音专教授。母亲在法国长大，家学渊源，亦嗜音乐，克列便是在这种熏陶下，自幼学识小提琴及写诗，在瑞士卒业后，决意学画。1898年摒装去德国慕尼黑拜师。二十岁的克列并未接受慕尼黑当时风行的保守古典主义。1901年旅行意大利。现实的意大利人生活及拿帕里一间水族馆阐发了他的眼界，他开始受到拜占庭艺术和罗丹绘画的影响，艺成返里，他一面自我思考，一面绘画黑白画，努力阅读。1912年再去巴黎野兽派画展的色彩，使他一新耳目。再去慕尼黑时，他参加了轰动德国的“青骑士派”与沙加勒等崭露头角。此后他一直在慕尼黑活动直到纳粹党执政斥以颓废即迂回瑞士。

克列虽不如马蒂斯、毕加索著名，但是他袭用原始艺术以及儿童绘画的满纸涂鸦式技巧，富于幻想气味，注重线条和点，完全破除旧有因袭传统，掀起现代画派上前无古人后无来者的大革命，有人说新颖至此可谓已臻止境。克列的创造性夹立体、抽象、超现实之大成无可伦比。“贝利台郊外”是他二十年代的作品。而“小儿脱颖而云”则是他晚年名作，都充分表现了克列高度的才智，简洁的构图，表面浅陋而内容深远的形象，无拘束无畴范的完全自由。那绝不是强权所诋毁的堕落，而是现代艺术最升华的造诣。

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Paul Klee (1879-1940), one of the ten great artists of the 20th century, was a Swiss eccentric genius. Born in the countryside of Bern, Switzerland, his father was a Bavarian from Germany who was skilled in playing the organ and taught music. His mother grew up in France, came from a scholarly family, and had a passion for music. Under this influence, Klee learned to play the violin and write poetry from a young age. After graduating in Switzerland, he decided to study painting. In 1898, he moved to Munich, Germany, to study under a master.

At the age of twenty, Klee did not adopt the prevailing conservative classicism of Munich at the time. In 1901, he traveled to Italy. The real-life of Italians and a visit to an aquarium in Naples expanded his horizons. He began to be influenced by Byzantine art and Rodin's sculptures. When he returned to Munich, he engaged in self-reflection, created black and white paintings, and dedicated himself to reading. In 1912, his visit to an exhibition of the Fauvist movement in Paris opened his eyes to color.

Upon returning to Munich, he joined the "Blue Rider" movement and associated with emerging artists like Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky. He remained active in Munich until the rise of the Nazi party, which deemed his art as decadent, and he eventually moved to Switzerland.

Although Klee is not as famous as Matisse or Picasso, he revolutionized the art world by embracing primitive art and children's drawing techniques. His works were filled with fantasy, emphasizing lines and dots, completely breaking away from traditional norms and ushering in a revolutionary era in modern art. Some say his innovation knew no bounds. Klee's creative genius transcended dimensions, incorporating elements of sculpture, abstraction, and surrealism. "Suburb with a View of Bern" is one of his works from the 1920s, while "The Youngster Overcomes Clouds" is a masterpiece from his later years. Both pieces showcase Klee's remarkable intellect, concise composition, seemingly simple yet profoundly meaningful imagery, and total artistic freedom. It was not the degeneracy as criticized by authoritarian regimes but the highest achievement in modern art."