Village Carnival
1926 · Oil on canvas, mounted on panel · Philadelphia Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- Paul Klee (1879–1940)
- Year
- 1926
- Medium
- Oil on canvas, mounted on panel
- Collection
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Movement
- Bauhaus
Against a glowing dark red ground ruled with fine horizontal lines, a tall figure in a wide hat stands at the centre beside a small girl in a red skirt and a dog drawn in thin white line; behind them rise little houses with pointed roofs, a striped ramp of red, pink and violet, a crescent moon and a red sun. The figures are sketched as much as painted, like drawings floating in coloured light. Klee painted it in 1926, after the Bauhaus had moved to Dessau, and it shares the playful, theatrical tone of his many pictures of village life, puppets and festivals; over the previous decade he had also made glove puppets for his son Felix. It belonged to the collectors Louise and Walter Arensberg and came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with their gift in 1950.
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 hatted figure, a small girl and a dog sketched on a glowing dark red ground, for a child's room, playroom or hallway at 16×24 in natural wood. A warm white, rust or deep red wall; it pairs with Castle and Sun.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Bauhaus painting
- Era
- 20th century (1926)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, kids room, 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
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Village Carnival in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Village Carnival 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.
