Description
Castle and Sun is a painting by Paul Klee from 1928: on a deep red-brown ground rises a castle, or perhaps a whole town, built from small rectangles, squares and triangles in red, orange, yellow, blue and green, and above the towers hangs a large round orange-red sun. The original is oil on canvas, 50 x 59 cm, and is held in a private collection. Our painter paints it for you by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 8 landscape sizes from 40 x 33 to 190 x 154 cm or made to measure. You see a photograph of your finished canvas before it leaves us.
| Title: | Castle and Sun |
| Other titles: | Burg und Sonne (German title) · Castello e sole (Italian title) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1928 |
| Original size: | 50 cm x 59 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Castle and Sun – Paul Klee
What does Castle and Sun show?
The whole surface is divided into a grid of coloured fields, separated by thin pale lines that look as if they were drawn with a ruler. The ground is a deep red-brown, and buildings grow out of it as if stacked from toy blocks.
Two towers rise at the left and in the centre: the left one cut into narrow strips of red, blue and brown, the central one crowned with blue, red and green fields above a light green column. A tall red rectangle at the upper right reads as a third tower.
The lower half is the liveliest part. Yellow, green and red triangular roofs sit on the houses, and in the middle small triangles and diamonds lock together into a bright pattern that recalls a harlequin costume. At the lower right a small red arch opens like a gate in the town wall.
High on the right, a little apart from the buildings, hangs the large round sun, orange-red, rough and scratched. Beside it Klee wrote his name and the year 1928 in red.
What does the title Castle and Sun mean?
The title names just two things, a castle and a sun, and leaves everything else to the viewer.
You can see a fortress with towers and walls, or an entire town with roofs, gables and gates. No single reading is fixed, and that is part of the appeal.
Klee played the violin from childhood, in an orchestra as well, and the poet Rilke felt that his drawings were like music set down on paper. With that in mind, it is easy to hear a rhythm in the repeated squares and triangles, almost like bars in a score; that is a viewer’s impression, not Klee’s explanation.
Why is this painting so well known?
Castle and Sun is among the better-known works by Klee. Every field carries a different shade, so the colours strengthen one another and glow against the dark ground like stained glass.
Children spot little houses, roofs and a sun; adults are drawn in by the carefully balanced geometry. That double appeal is typical of Klee, the Swiss-born German artist shaped by expressionism, cubism and surrealism.
His breakthrough in colour came in 1914, on the trip to Tunisia with August Macke and Louis Moilliet. From that journey comes the watercolour St. Germain near Tunis, full of soft patches of colour that settle into fields and gardens.
This painting has no article of its own; the English-language Wikipedia article on Paul Klee covers the painter.
Where is the original, and when was it painted?
Klee’s canvas measures 50 x 59 cm (height x width) and belongs to a private collection; it is listed under catalogue number 1928,201.
Klee painted it in 1928, during the years he taught at the Bauhaus. He taught there from January 1921 to April 1931 alongside Wassily Kandinsky.
Many of Klee’s works are small pieces on paper, gauze or board, whereas this one is a true oil on a mid-sized canvas.
After the Bauhaus he taught at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1931 to 1933. In 1937 the Nazis put seventeen of his works on show in the “Degenerate art” exhibition and took 102 of his works from public collections.
Castle and Sun or another Klee?
Castle and Sun suits anyone who likes plenty of colour held in a clear order, and its landscape format sits well above a long sideboard.
If Klee’s geometry appeals to you, look at Polyphony from 1932, where thousands of small dots lie over coloured rectangles. Villa R from 1919 also sets architecture in a landscape, with a white villa beside a red road and a large R in the foreground, while Swamp Legend, from the same year, has a darker, dreamlike mood.
Our Paul Klee page gathers all the famous Paul Klee paintings we offer.
How do we hand-paint Castle and Sun on canvas?
Nothing has to be translated from paper to canvas here, because Klee himself painted on canvas. Ours is an oil painting reproduction made on fresh canvas: the painter works in oil or acrylic, in the size you choose, building it up layer by layer.
Over the dark red-brown ground he draws the grid in fine pale lines, then fills it field by field, roofs and triangles included. The sun comes last, with a thicker, rougher layer, so that it keeps its warm, scratched surface.
The result is a canvas painting with visible brushwork, which hangs on the wall as real painting rather than as a print.
Which size fits which wall?
In short: 40 x 33 or 50 x 42 cm for a hallway, a shelf or a narrow wall, 65 x 53 and 80 x 68 cm above a chest of drawers, a desk or a bed, 93 x 75 and 115 x 100 cm above a sofa, and 150 x 121 or 190 x 154 cm for a large wall in a living or dining room.
We paint Castle and Sun in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 40 x 33, 50 x 42, 65 x 53, 80 x 68, 93 x 75, 115 x 100, 150 x 121 and 190 x 154 cm. The original measures 59 x 50 cm (width x height), so the two smallest sizes are smaller than Klee’s canvas, every size from 65 x 53 cm up is larger, and at 190 x 154 cm the town is more than three times as wide.
As a painting for the living room it looks best at 115 x 100 or 150 x 121 cm above the sofa. Because every field is clearly separated, enlarging it does not blur the shapes; it sharpens them.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for other proportions, we adjust the composition so that the towers, roofs and sun stay whole, and lengthen or shorten the grid of fields along the edges. Tell us the measurements of your wall space, and a quote with price and timing follows.
Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames each painting and prepares it for the journey. It reaches you rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed.
You pick the frame in our 3D app, where you can compare mouldings and colours; the app is for choosing the frame only, and seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A dark wooden frame or a slim gold moulding suits the warm reds.
When will my painting arrive?
Once you confirm, the painter starts work, and the painting is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Even before packing, you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like a change, we make it.
Shipments within Slovenia and to the other EU countries travel without customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
Castle and Sun is a cheerful present for a housewarming, a wedding or a milestone birthday. Unsure of their wall? A wall art voucher lets the recipient settle on a size.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the original?
A private collection; it is an oil on canvas from 1928 that does not belong to a museum.
What is in the painting?
A castle or town made of coloured rectangles and triangles on a red-brown ground, with a round sun at the upper right.
Will I get a print?
No. You get a hand-painted copy, brushed onto canvas by our painter in oil or acrylic.
How large is the original?
It measures 50 x 59 cm (height x width); our sizes run from 40 x 33 to 190 x 154 cm.
Can I order a different aspect ratio?
Yes. Tell us the width and height you need, and we will send you an offer with a price and a date.
How long will I wait for my painting?
Making it takes from 15 to 45 working days; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work.
Would Castle and Sun suit a nursery or make a good present?
Yes. The bright little houses and the sun delight children, and as a present it is a cheerful choice for anyone who enjoys modern art.
In which year did Klee paint it?
In 1928, while he was teaching at the Bauhaus; the signature at the upper right gives the year 1928.
- Subject: a castle or town of red, orange, yellow, blue and green shapes on a dark red-brown ground, with a round sun above.
- Original: oil on canvas, 1928, 50 x 59 cm, private collection.
- Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction painted by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes from 40 x 33 to 190 x 154 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: Klee painted it during his Bauhaus years and signed it at the upper right.
