Description
Boy in Fancy Dress is a painting by Paul Klee from 1931: on a grey ground covered with rows of small dabs of colour stands a boy dressed up for a celebration, drawn in thin coloured lines, with a big round hat, a frilled collar, a wide, angular cape, long blue legs and little red shoes. The original is watercolour and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard, 62.9 x 47.9 cm, held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. We hand-paint it on canvas in oil or acrylic, in 4 upright sizes from 77 x 100 to 156 x 200 cm or made to measure. You see the finished boy in a photograph first, and only then do we pack him.
| Title: | Boy in Fancy Dress |
| Other titles: | Junge im Kostüm (German title) · Ragazzo in costume (Italian title) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1931 |
| Original size: | 62.9 cm x 47.9 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Watercolour and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 4 sizes or made to measure |
Boy in Fancy Dress – Paul Klee
What does Boy in Fancy Dress show?
A warm grey ground covers the whole surface, with small rectangular dabs running across it in dense rows: blue, pink, brick orange, green, violet and yellow, laid side by side like mosaic tiles. A thin grey margin stays between them, so from a distance the whole thing shimmers like woven cloth.
Over this pattern Klee drew a boy in fine coloured strokes. A big round hat or halo in pale yellow and grey rings his head, and inside it sits a small face with an orange mouth. Under the chin a frilled pink collar opens out, then the body turns into a broad, angular cape that the boy holds spread out to the sides, flat as a tabletop.
Below stand two long, thin blue legs with tiny red shoes. The dabs of the ground run straight through the figure, so the boy is woven from the same stuff as the space around him. At the top left the name Klee is written in a small hand.
What does the title tell us, and who is this boy?
The title says only that the boy is in fancy dress. What occasion he dressed up for, and whether he stands on a stage or in the street, Klee does not reveal, and no settled reading of the work is known. So we keep to what can be seen.
And there is plenty of festive spirit. The hat, the frilled collar and the outspread cape are clothes nobody wears on an ordinary day, and the red shoes give the figure a hint of dance. Most viewers soon think of carnival, of children playing dress-up, or of a school play.
Why is this work so well loved?
Boy in Fancy Dress was made in 1931, when Klee began to build his works out of a multitude of small dabs of colour. A year later the method reached its peak in Ad Parnassum, which English Wikipedia calls his masterpiece and the best example of his pointillist style.
From the same year and in the same technique comes Castle Garden, where towers and garden beds rise out of the dabs. In the boy, the dabs carry a human figure instead, which makes this canvas painting warmer and more playful.
A longer Wikipedia article on Paul Klee, in English, is about the painter rather than this work; it traces his path from the Bauhaus to Düsseldorf.
Where is the original, and how was it made?
The original belongs to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, accession number 1988.415. It is part of The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1988.
It is watercolour and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard, 62.9 x 47.9 cm (height x width). For Klee that is quite a generous sheet, since he usually worked in small formats, often on paper, gauze or board.
In 1931, until April, he was still teaching at the Bauhaus, where he had worked alongside Wassily Kandinsky since January 1921; then he taught at the Düsseldorf Academy until 1933.
Six years later the Nazi exhibition of so-called degenerate art included seventeen of his pictures, and 102 of his works were seized from public collections.
Boy in Fancy Dress or another Klee?
Like the dots but not the figure? See Equals Infinity from 1932: a cloud of tiny dots in an ochre border, with an equals sign and the sign for infinity in the middle.
For a face, there are two from 1924. Actor’s Mask shows a green mask threaded with fine wavy lines, and Astrological Fantasy Portrait a head in profile with a tall hat among heavenly signs on black.
All the famous Paul Klee paintings we offer, Ad Parnassum among them, are gathered on one page: Paul Klee.
How do we hand-paint the boy on canvas?
Klee’s original is watercolour and gouache on paper: thin, partly transparent layers of colour on a sheet just over 60 cm tall. Our oil painting reproduction is made on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in the size you choose, so it hangs as a real painting on a stretcher bar, not as a sheet behind glass.
The painter first lays in the grey ground, then sets the dabs row by row, each in its own shade, leaving a thin grey margin between them. Once the mosaic is dry, he draws the figure over it: the yellow hat, the pink collar, the reddish edges of the cape, the blue legs and the red shoes. Thinner paint and a loose brush keep the lightness of the watercolour, layer by layer.
Which size fits which wall?
In short: 77 x 100 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 95 x 128 cm above a sofa or in a dining room, and 124 x 157 or 156 x 200 cm for a tall, empty wall where the boy should catch every eye.
We paint Boy in Fancy Dress in 4 upright sizes (width x height): 77 x 100, 95 x 128, 124 x 157 and 156 x 200 cm. The original measures 47.9 x 62.9 cm (width x height), so even our smallest size is larger than the sheet in New York, and the largest enlarges it more than three times in width.
Why not smaller? The work is made of several hundred small dabs, and each needs a little room to stay distinct. At a smaller format they would melt into a grey haze, so we start at 77 x 100 cm.
As a painting for the living room it looks best at 124 x 157 cm above the sofa, where the bright dabs wake up a quiet wall.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If you need different proportions, we keep the boy whole, from hat to shoes, and widen or narrow only the grey ground. For a quote with price and date, just tell us the size you want for the boy.
The boy can reach you rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia handles the stretching and framing. In our 3D app you pick only the moulding, and light grey, white or pale wood suit the grey ground; seeing the boy on your own wall is a separate service.
How long do making and delivery take?
The painter starts once you confirm the order; within 15 to 45 working days the boy is ready to travel. Before packing we send you a photograph of the finished painting and make any change you ask for.
The boy travels with no customs duties within Slovenia and across the EU, and our returns policy applies.
The festive boy in red shoes makes a lovely present for a child’s room or for a friend who enjoys cheerful modern art. Not sure of their wall? Give a wall art voucher and leave the size to them.
Frequently asked questions
Which museum has the original?
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, under accession number 1988.415.
What is in the picture?
A boy with a hat, a frilled collar, an outspread cape and red shoes, on a grey ground of coloured dabs.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy that our painter works with brushes on canvas, in oil or acrylic.
How big is Klee’s sheet?
It measures 62.9 x 47.9 cm (height x width); our sizes run from 77 x 100 to 156 x 200 cm.
Is there a smaller size?
Below 77 x 100 cm the small dabs would blur, so we advise against it.
How long will I wait for the boy?
Making him takes 15 to 45 working days, and you see his photograph before dispatch.
Is the boy a good gift or a child’s room piece?
Yes. The cheerful boy in costume is at home in a child’s room, and as a present he delights anyone who loves colour.
Does the figure have a hidden meaning?
Klee left none on record; the title says only that the boy is in fancy dress, so we read him as a playful, festive figure.
- Subject: a boy in fancy dress with a round hat, a frilled collar, a wide cape and red shoes on a grey mosaic of dabs.
- Original: watercolour and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard, 1931, 62.9 x 47.9 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction painted by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, 4 sizes from 77 x 100 to 156 x 200 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the work dates from 1931, the year Klee moved from the Bauhaus to the Düsseldorf Academy.
