Paul Klee – Fish Magic

Fish Magic is a painting Paul Klee made in 1925, during his years teaching at the Bauhaus: on an almost black ground, glowing fish in pink, blue and orange swim among a clock tower, flowers in vases, a small figure with a face and several moons. The original measures 77.3 x 98.5 cm (height x width), is painted in oil and watercolour on canvas mounted on panel, and belongs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the United States. One of our painters recreates it by hand on canvas in oil or acrylic, in 8 landscape sizes from 40 x 30 to 200 x 159 cm or made to measure, and we send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch.

Fish Magic – Paul Klee

What does Fish Magic show?

A deep, velvety black covers almost the whole canvas, and coloured shapes glow out of it as if someone were shining a torch under water. On the left swim three fish: a large pale violet one with spines, a smaller brownish one and a long yellow one. On the right a golden orange fish with criss-cross scales and a long blue fish with a spiral eye drift past, with a tiny reddish fish below them.

In the middle rises a tall, pointed tower with a white clock face, set inside a lighter square. A thin white line runs from the right edge to the tip of the tower, and at its far end hangs a small orange ball beside a pale crescent moon.

Near the bottom the earth joins in with flowers: on the right a green vase on an hourglass-shaped stand holds round blooms, and at top right a blue daisy grows on a feathery stem. In the middle of the lower edge a small figure waves, with blue eyes, a red heart-shaped mouth and pink hands.

What does Fish Magic mean?

Klee left no explanation, so the painting stays open. The English Wikipedia article on Fish Magic describes it as an intermingling of the aquatic, the celestial and the earthly: fish, moons and flowers share one dark surface, as if sea, night sky and garden had become a single place.

The curator Ann Temkin calls it a masterpiece in which Klee’s intellect and imagination are reconciled, producing a sense of magic. She singles out the thin diagonal running from the right towards the top of the clock tower: to her it looks ready, at any moment, to pull the pale square away and show what lies beneath.

Another writer quoted by Wikipedia places the painting in the tradition of German Romanticism, where fantasy meets close observation of nature. She compares the way the fish, flowers, people and tower are scratched out of the dark layer to a game children play with wax crayons.

Why is Fish Magic so famous?

English Wikipedia calls it a Surrealist painting.

It is also known for its technique. Beneath a thin skin of black lies a dense layer of bright colour, and Klee scratched and drew his figures out of the dark surface so that the colour below shines through. In the centre he glued a square of muslin, a fine cotton cloth, which gives the work the feel of a collage.

Klee made more than 9,000 works, and only a handful are this widely known. Among the famous Paul Klee paintings that people recognise without ever visiting a museum is Angelus Novus, a small angel on paper from 1920 that the philosopher Walter Benjamin bought.

Where is the original, and how did it reach the museum?

The original belongs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where its accession number is 1950-134-112.

Before it entered the museum, it was part of the collection of Walter and Louise Arensberg. It was donated to the Philadelphia museum in 1950 and remains there today.

Klee painted it in 1925, while teaching at the Bauhaus, the art school where he worked alongside Wassily Kandinsky from January 1921 to April 1931.

Fish Magic or another Klee?

Fish Magic is a canvas painting for anyone who likes deep, dark tones and small scenes you discover one by one.

If you prefer a lighter, playful drawing, choose Twittering Machine, where four birds sit on a wire above a crank. For a calmer wall with warm stripes of colour there is Highways and Byways from 1929, and for a large room Ad Parnassum, built from thousands of tiny dots of colour.

Every Klee work we paint to order is gathered on our Paul Klee page.

How do we hand-paint Fish Magic?

First, the original: it is oil and watercolour on canvas mounted on panel, with a piece of cloth glued at the centre. Ours is an oil painting reproduction in the sense buyers mean: a hand-painted copy on canvas, worked by our painter in oil or acrylic depending on the order, layer by layer.

He starts by placing every shape, so that fish, tower and vases keep their positions and the thin line still meets the tip of the tower. Next comes the dark, almost black ground. Finally he paints the fish, flowers and moons with a fine brush; the lighter square in the middle is made with paint, with no cloth glued on.

Unlike many of Klee’s works, the original is no small sheet of paper but a mid-sized painting, so its details hold up well in our larger sizes.

Which size fits which wall?

In short: 40 x 30 and 50 x 38 cm for a shelf or a narrow wall, 65 x 49 and 80 x 63 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 100 x 79 and 125 x 99 cm above a sofa, and 160 x 123 and 200 x 159 cm for a large wall in a living area or an office.

We paint it in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 40 x 30, 50 x 38, 65 x 49, 80 x 63, 100 x 79, 125 x 99, 160 x 123 and 200 x 159 cm. The original measures 98.5 x 77.3 cm (width x height), so our smallest sizes are much smaller and the largest is roughly twice as wide.

As a painting for the living room it shows best from 125 x 99 cm upwards above a sofa, where the little fish and flowers have room to breathe. Hang the lower edge 20 to 30 cm above the backrest.

Can I have a different size or a frame?

Yes. If your wall calls for other proportions, we adapt the composition so that the clock tower, fish and vases stay whole and only the spacing between them changes. Send us the size you need and we will reply with a price and a date.

You receive the painting rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames it and gets every painting ready for the road before it leaves us. The 3D app on our site is for choosing the moulding only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.

When will the painting arrive?

Once you confirm the order our painter gets to work, and within 15 to 45 working days Fish Magic is ready to travel. Before packing we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like a change, say to the shade of one of the fish, we make it.

There are no customs duties within Slovenia or the rest of the EU, and our returns policy covers every order.

Not sure about the recipient’s wall? Give a wall art voucher and let them choose the size.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I see the original?

At the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the United States, which received it in 1950 from the Arensberg collection.

What can you see on the canvas?

Pink, blue and orange fish, a clock tower, flowers in vases, moons and a small figure on a black ground.

Is it a print?

No. Our painter works it with a brush on canvas, in oil or acrylic, and we send you a photograph before dispatch.

How big is the original?

77.3 x 98.5 cm (height x width); our sizes run from 40 x 30 to 200 x 159 cm.

Can I order a size that is not listed?

Yes. Tell us the width and height you need, and we will send an offer with a price and a date.

How long does it take to make?

It takes 15 to 45 working days, and the photograph of your finished painting comes before dispatch.

Would Fish Magic suit a child’s room or make a good gift?

Yes. Fish and flowers make a friendly subject for a child’s room or a bedroom, and as a gift it pleases anyone who loves the sea and fairy tales.

What does the thin line towards the tower mean?

Ann Temkin wrote that it seems ready to pull the pale square away and reveal something underneath.

• Subject: glowing fish, a clock tower, flowers and moons on an almost black ground, with a lighter square at the centre.
• Original: oil and watercolour on canvas mounted on panel, 1925, 77.3 x 98.5 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction, hand-painted on canvas in oil or acrylic; 8 landscape sizes, 40 x 30 to 200 x 159 cm, or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: Klee scratched the figures out of a black layer with bright colours beneath it, and glued a piece of muslin at the centre.