Villa R
1919 · Oil on cardboard · Kunstmuseum Basel
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About this work
- Artist
- Paul Klee (1879–1940)
- Year
- 1919
- Medium
- Oil on cardboard
- Original size
- 26.5 × 22.4 cm
- Collection
- Kunstmuseum Basel
- Movement
- Expressionism
A white villa built from small planes of colour stands where a winding red road crosses a dark hillside, under a yellow full moon and a pale green crescent; in the foreground a large green capital R stands in the landscape as if it belonged there. Brown mountains run across the top. Klee painted it on cardboard in 1919 in Munich, soon after his release from military service. The letter has been linked to a Villa Rosa he saw on his travels through Italy in the early 1900s, but Klee never explained it, and letters and signs were becoming part of his pictorial language at this time. Removed from a Frankfurt collection by the Nazi regime as degenerate art, the painting was bought by the Kunstmuseum Basel at the Lucerne auction of 1939.
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 white villa under a yellow moon beside a red road and a large green letter R, for a child's room, hallway or study at 24×36 in natural wood. A deep green, terracotta or warm white wall; it pairs with Red Balloon.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Expressionism painting
- Era
- 20th century (1919)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, kids room, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
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
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Villa R in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Villa R 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.




























