Fish Magic
1925 · Oil and watercolour on canvas, mounted on panel · Philadelphia Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- Paul Klee (1879–1940)
- Year
- 1925
- Medium
- Oil and watercolour on canvas, mounted on panel
- Original size
- 77.3 × 98.5 cm
- Collection
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Movement
- Bauhaus
On a deep black-green ground, fish in pink, gold and blue swim among flowers, small moons and a clock set inside a glassy, tent-like frame, while at the edges stand small figures, one with pink hands, and a harlequin-like head. A fine line runs from the right edge to the top of the clock. Klee painted it in 1925, the year the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau, by laying dense, bright colour on the canvas, covering it with black and then drawing and scratching the creatures back out of the darkness. A square of muslin glued at the centre adds a collage-like layer. The picture blends water, sky and land into one dreamlike space and is often linked to German Romantic fantasy. It belonged to the collectors Louise and Walter Arensberg and came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with their gift in 1950.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Pink and gold fish, flowers and a clock floating on a deep black-green ground, for a bathroom, child's room or bedroom at 32×24 in black. A navy, dark green or white wall; it pairs with Kandinsky's Accent in Pink.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Bauhaus painting
- Era
- 20th century (1925)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- bedroom, bathroom, kids room, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 32×24. Prints at 16×12, 24×18, 32×24 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard; 32×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Fish Magic in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Fish Magic painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.































