Paul Klee – Dance of the Moth

Dance of the Moth is a work by Paul Klee from 1923: on a grid of soft blue squares, deep navy at the edges and lighter towards the centre, a pale vertical band glows, and over it a fine black drawing of a moth with spread wings sinks downward, falling or dancing, escorted by small arrows that point to the ground. The original is a sheet of paper measuring 51.5 x 32.5 cm, on which Klee combined oil transfer, pencil and watercolour; it belongs to the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Nagoya, Japan. Our painter paints it for you by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 8 upright sizes from 29 x 46 to 116 x 180 cm or made to measure. A photograph of the finished painting reaches you before anything is packed.

Dance of the Moth – Paul Klee

What does Dance of the Moth show?

The ground is a grid of soft watercolour squares, almost midnight blue at the edges of the sheet and greyish, greenish and pale blue towards the middle. A narrow vertical band runs down the centre and brightens at top and bottom into a faint, almost flesh-coloured pink, like a shaft of light in a blue night.

Over this grid Klee drew a figure in a thin, slightly grainy black line: a small head with a single eye, long pointed wings opening from the shoulders, and a body of narrow parallel lines that ends in a few legs or the folds of a dress.

The figure is neither quite insect nor quite human: you can read it as a moth or as a woman with moth wings. Small arrows around it all point down, the largest at the very bottom inside the bright band, so the figure seems to fall or dance its way to the ground. At the lower right Klee signed his name.

What does the title Dance of the Moth mean?

There is no accepted reading that explains every line, and Klee liked to leave meaning open, so we describe what is there and leave the rest to you.

And there is a lot to see. A moth is a creature of the night, and this one moves right inside the bright band of the dark blue field, as if drawn by the light, while the arrows send it downward. Its dance is a light fall, graceful and restless at once.

Why does this sheet hold the eye?

First, the colour: the watercolour bleeds a little at the edge of each square, so the grid breathes like fabric or like the sky at dusk, and the bright band looks almost like a light source.

Second, the line. It comes from Klee’s own oil transfer method, so it is grainy and slightly blurred rather than smooth like a pen stroke, and that is what makes the figure weightless, as if drawn in smoke.

Klee was born in 1879 in Münchenbuchsee near Bern, the son of a German music teacher and a Swiss singer, and played the violin from childhood. Rilke wrote that his drawings seemed like transcriptions of music; here the grid works like a beat and the figure like a melody descending over it.

For more on the painter, see the English Wikipedia article on Paul Klee; it is written in English and covers the artist, not this work in particular.

Where is the original kept, and how was it made?

The original belongs to the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Nagoya, Japan: a sheet of paper 51.5 cm high and 32.5 cm wide.

Klee made it in 1923, while he was teaching at the Bauhaus. He taught there from January 1921 to April 1931 alongside Wassily Kandinsky, and then at the Düsseldorf Academy until 1933.

For an oil transfer, Klee coated a sheet with black oil paint, laid it on the drawing paper and drew over it, so the line printed onto the paper below; pencil and watercolour complete the sheet.

From the same decade comes Little Jester in a Trance of 1929, a dancing figure drawn in thin brown lines on a sandy ground.

In 1937 the Nazis showed seventeen of Klee’s works in the “Degenerate art” exhibition and seized 102 of his works from public collections; he died in 1940.

Dance of the Moth or another Klee?

Dance of the Moth is a canvas painting for anyone who loves a quiet, night-time mood, and its upright format suits narrow walls or the space between two windows.

For Klee’s mysterious side, see Omega 5 (Traps), pale thread-like objects on dark red. For rhythm in colour blocks there is Rhythmical, and for a warmer tone Arrow in the Garden, a copper-brown surface full of tiny plants and signs.

Our whole selection of famous Paul Klee paintings, all in one place, is on the Paul Klee page.

How do we hand-paint Dance of the Moth on canvas?

Klee’s original is a sheet of paper drawn in oil transfer, pencil and watercolour. Ours, by contrast, is an oil painting reproduction made on canvas, in oil or acrylic and in the size you choose, so it hangs like any work stretched on a frame.

The painter first fills a grid of squares layer by layer with thinned blues, dark at the edge and light in the middle, so the softness of watercolour survives. Once it is dry, he draws the moth and the arrows with a fine brush in light, dry strokes, so the line stays grainy and delicate.

Which size suits your wall?

In short: 29 x 46 or 40 x 62 cm for a narrow wall or a hallway, 48 x 75 and 55 x 85 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 64 x 100 cm above a sofa, and 80 x 126, 90 x 140 or 116 x 180 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.

We paint Dance of the Moth in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 29 x 46, 40 x 62, 48 x 75, 55 x 85, 64 x 100, 80 x 126, 90 x 140 and 116 x 180 cm. The original sheet measures 32.5 x 51.5 cm (width x height), so our smallest size is slightly smaller and all the others enlarge it; at 116 x 180 cm the figure is about three and a half times as large as on the paper in Nagoya.

As a painting for the living room it looks best at 64 x 100 or 80 x 126 cm, where the blue grid calms the room and the bright band catches the eye.

Can I order a different size or a frame?

Of course. For other proportions we keep the figure and the arrows whole and widen or narrow only the grid. Send us your own measurements and we reply with a price and a delivery time.

We ship it rolled, on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing. Our 3D app is only for picking the frame; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.

When will the painting be on your wall?

Dance of the Moth is ready to ship 15 to 45 working days after you confirm the order. Before packing you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and any change you ask for is made.

Within the EU, Slovenia included, the painting travels without customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.

This gentle, dreamlike work makes a lovely present for a new home or a music lover; if you are unsure of their wall, a gift voucher lets them pick the size.

Frequently asked questions

Where can the original be seen?

At the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Nagoya, Japan.

What is in the picture?

A thin black moth with spread wings, falling or dancing over a grid of blue squares.

Am I getting a print?

No. Our painter works your hand-painted copy stroke by stroke on canvas, in oil or acrylic.

How big is the original sheet?

It measures 51.5 x 32.5 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 116 x 180 cm.

Is a size outside the list possible?

Yes: name your width and height and an offer with price and delivery date follows.

How long will I wait for the painting?

From 15 to 45 working days; before dispatch you also get a photograph of the finished work.

Is it right for a bedroom, or as a gift?

Yes. The calm blues suit a bedroom, and as a present it is a gentle choice for lovers of music and modern art.

Why do the arrows point down?

They show the direction of movement, which is why the figure seems to fall or dance towards the foot of the sheet.

• Subject: a thin black moth with spread wings on a grid of blue squares, with a bright band down the middle.
• Original: oil transfer, pencil and watercolour on paper, 1923, 51.5 x 32.5 cm, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art.
• Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, in 8 sizes from 29 x 46 to 116 x 180 cm, or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: Klee made the sheet during his Bauhaus years and drew its line with his own oil transfer method.