Description
Florentine Villa District is a painting by Paul Klee from 1926: a warm patchwork of pink, salmon, ochre, orange and grey-violet fields, scratched with arches, zigzags, little windows, tiny houses and trees, so that the whole surface looks like a hillside town of villas worked in embroidery. The original is oil on cardboard, 49.5 cm high and 36.5 cm wide, and it belongs to the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Our painter paints it by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 8 upright sizes from 30 x 40 to 151 x 200 cm, or made to measure. Before it is packed, we send you a photograph of your finished villa district.
| Title: | Florentine Villa District |
| Other titles: | Florentinisches Villenviertel (German title) · Quartiere delle ville fiorentine (Italian title) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1926 |
| Original size: | 49.5 cm x 36.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on cardboard |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Florentine Villa District – Paul Klee
What does Florentine Villa District show?
Klee divides the tall surface into bands and irregular patches of warm colour: pink, salmon, ochre, orange, sand and grey-violet. No field is smooth. Fine patterns are scratched into each one, so the surface recalls embroidery or a bright piece of cloth sewn together from remnants.
Along the top run decorative bands: arches, zigzags, garlands, a line of signs that look like little crosses, circles and stars, and two large wheels, a pink one on the left and a lilac one in the middle. Below them stands a row of slender little trees.
In the lower half, houses emerge from the patterns: a grey villa with arched windows, darker blocks with rows of windows and stairs, a reddish square with two lanterns and a pink building with arcades. At the lower left Klee scratched his signature and the year 1926.
What does the title mean?
The title names a district of villas in Florence. Klee knew Italy from his travels, yet the painting is neither a map nor a postcard of a particular place. The houses are drawn simply, almost childlike, windows are just squares and arches, and gardens turn into bands of pattern.
So it reads more as the memory of a warm town on hills than as an exact record. The ornamental bands above the houses could be sky, terraces or rows of gardens; the work does not say, and the question stays open.
Why do people love this painting?
From across the room it reads as a calm, warm field of colour that sits well with wood, brick or pale fabrics. Up close, hundreds of small signs open up, and each time you look you find another window or another ornament.
The scratched surface is no accident. As early as 1905 and 1906 Klee was trying to combine painting and scratching, and later he worked on all kinds of supports, from canvas and gauze to cardboard, applying paint with a knife and in thick layers too.
Born in 1879 in Münchenbuchsee near Bern, he played the violin from childhood, and Rilke wrote that his drawings seemed like transcriptions of music. The repeated arches and zigzags in this work really do run like a rhythm.
This painting has no Wikipedia article of its own; for more about the painter, read the Wikipedia article on Paul Klee, which is in English.
Where is the original, and how was it made?
The original belongs to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, in the collection of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, inventory number AM 4512 P. It is oil on cardboard, 49.5 cm high and 36.5 cm wide.
Klee painted it in 1926, during his Bauhaus years; he taught at the Bauhaus from January 1921 to April 1931, alongside Wassily Kandinsky. From the same period comes Curtain of 1924, a narrow wine-red panel covered in fine white lines that also brings woven cloth to mind.
In 1937 the Nazis showed seventeen of Klee’s works in the “Degenerate art” exhibition, and 102 of his works were seized from public collections. By his death in 1940 he had made more than 9,000 works.
Florentine Villa District or another Klee?
It is a canvas painting for anyone who loves warm colour and details that reveal themselves slowly. The upright format suits a narrow wall, the space between two windows or the wall above a chest of drawers.
If Klee’s houses appeal to you, look at Villa R from 1919, a white villa beside a red road with a large green letter R. If you prefer pure colour without buildings, you will find it in May Picture, a grid of soft squares in spring colours, and for a cheerful, playful scene there are the Acrobats, two figures made of fine lines.
All the famous Paul Klee paintings we offer, from small light-hearted scenes to large fields of colour, are gathered on our Paul Klee page.
How do we hand-paint Florentine Villa District?
Klee’s original is oil on cardboard rather than canvas, with a thick, scratched surface. Ours is an oil painting reproduction on canvas: the painter works in oil or acrylic, in the size you choose, so it hangs on your wall like any painting on a stretcher.
First he divides the canvas into bands and patches and lays in the warm base colours, pink, ochre, orange and grey-violet. Once the ground has gained layers and texture, he draws the small patterns with a fine brush: arches, zigzags, little windows, stairs and trees.
He uses no ruler, because the lines must stay slightly uneven, as they are in Klee’s work. That way even a large canvas keeps its warm, handmade surface.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 30 x 40 or 40 x 52 cm for a narrow wall or a hallway, 45 x 60 and 58 x 75 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 73 x 100 and 91 x 127 cm above a sofa, and 120 x 160 or 151 x 200 cm for a tall, empty wall.
There are 8 upright sizes (width x height): 30 x 40, 40 x 52, 45 x 60, 58 x 75, 73 x 100, 91 x 127, 120 x 160 and 151 x 200 cm. The original measures 36.5 x 49.5 cm (width x height); the smallest size is a little smaller, and all the others enlarge it, about four times at 151 x 200 cm.
As a painting for the living room it looks best at 73 x 100 or 91 x 127 cm, where the small patterns can be read from the sofa.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Of course. If you need different proportions, we lengthen or shorten the pattern bands at the top or bottom, while the houses in the middle stay whole. Tell us the size you have in mind, and we will come back with a price and a delivery date.
You can have it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed and ready to hang. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and makes every painting ready to travel. The moulding is chosen in our 3D app, a tool for picking the frame and nothing else; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
Natural wood, a touch of brass or a plain dark moulding that sharpens the edges all suit the pink and ochre tones.
When will my painting arrive?
After you confirm the order, the painting is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before it leaves, you get a photograph of the finished work; if you want a change, we make it.
Within Slovenia and the wider EU no customs duties apply, and our returns policy covers every order.
Warm and full of detail, it makes a lovely gift for a new home, a wedding or anyone who loves Italy. Not sure which size their wall can take? Give a wall art voucher and the recipient picks the format.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original hang?
At the Centre Pompidou in Paris (Musée National d’Art Moderne), inventory number AM 4512 P.
What is in the painting?
A warm field of pink, ochre and grey-violet with scratched houses, windows, arches and little trees.
Will I receive a print?
No. Our painter brushes a hand-painted copy onto canvas in oil or acrylic, villa by villa.
How big is the original?
49.5 x 36.5 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 151 x 200 cm.
Can you paint a size that is not listed?
Yes. Tell us the width and height, and we will send you a price and a lead time.
How long will I wait?
15 to 45 working days, and before the villas are packed you see them in a photograph.
Is it right for a bedroom, or as a gift?
Yes. The warm, quiet colours suit a bedroom, and as a present it pleases anyone who loves Italy or modern art.
Does the painting show the real Florence?
Not like a map; the title names a Florentine villa district, but the houses are simple and woven into the ornaments.
- Subject: pink, ochre, orange and grey-violet fields with scratched patterns, houses, windows and little trees.
- Original: oil on cardboard, 1926, 49.5 x 36.5 cm, Centre Pompidou, Paris.
- Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction brushed by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, every small pattern painted in, 8 sizes from 30 x 40 to 151 x 200 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: Klee painted it during his Bauhaus years; he knew Italy from his travels.
