Swamp Legend

Paul Klee

1919 · Oil on cardboard · Lenbachhaus, Munich

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Swamp Legend

Ancient Sound, Abstract on Black

Hammamet with Its Mosque

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Paul Klee (1879–1940)
Year: 1919
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Original size: 47 × 40.8 cm
Collection: Lenbachhaus, Munich
Movement: Expressionism

A murky landscape of green, brown and white is broken into slanting planes, with crosses, small fir trees, a house, a few pale green discs and a looming head-like form scattered through it; at lower left a tiny stick figure seems to stand in the marsh. Sulphurous greens set against violet-brown give it a strange, dreamlike light. Klee painted it on cardboard in Munich in 1919, one of a series of cosmic landscapes from 1917 to 1919 in which, as he put it in his diaries, landscape became a setting for moods of the soul. Paul and Sophie Küppers bought it from his studio and lent it to the museum in Hanover, where it was confiscated in 1937 and shown in the Nazi Degenerate Art exhibition. The Lenbachhaus in Munich acquired it in 1982, and in 2017 the city reached an agreement over its ownership with the heirs of Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A murky marsh of green, brown and white planes with crosses and small fir trees, for a study, library or hallway at 16×24 in black. A dark green, olive or warm grey wall; it pairs with Terraced Garden.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Expressionism painting
Era: 20th century (1919)
Orientation: Portrait
Mood: classic
Rooms: hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.

Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Swamp Legend in the public domain?

Yes. Paul Klee (1879–1940) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Lenbachhaus.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18 and 16×24 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Swamp Legend painted, and in what medium?

Swamp Legend dates from 1919 and was made in oil on cardboard; the original measures 47 × 40.8 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 16×24 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 12×18 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Swamp Legend we'd choose 16×24.

About this design

Swamp Legend (Paul Klee) — Swamp Legend · Paul Klee · 1919. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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