Description
Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere is a painting by Paul Klee from 1925: a quiet, almost misty surface in soft beige, grey and smoky plum, with a pale arch of sky at the top, fine straight lines fanning out like rays from a tiny red dot near the centre, and a dark grey bar along the bottom edge. The original is a small watercolour with graphite on paper, 37.1 x 27 cm, held by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. We make it for you 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 leaves us, you get a photograph of your finished painting.
| Title: | Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere |
| Other titles: | Horizont, Gipfelpunkt und Atmosphäre (German title) · Orizzonte, zenit e atmosfera (Italian title) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1925 |
| Original size: | 37.1 cm x 27 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Watercolour and graphite on paper |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere – Paul Klee
What does Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere show?
The ground is a soft, grainy field of beige and grey that darkens towards the edges into a smoky greyish lilac. Nothing has a hard outline: the colour spreads like haze, and the surface is sprinkled with tiny specks, like dust caught in a beam of sunlight.
In the upper half a large pale arch rises, like a dome of sky. A slanting straight line cuts across it, so its top part looks lighter still, almost white. Below the arch, two soft fan-shaped beams of plum and pink descend and narrow towards the middle.
There, a little below the centre, a tiny red dot glows. Fine straight lines spread from it upwards and downwards like rays, leaving a pale wedge of bare paper between them. Along the bottom edge lies a long dark grey bar, the only solid form on the sheet.
What do horizon, zenith and atmosphere mean here?
The title lists three words we use to describe the sky. The horizon is the line where earth meets sky, the zenith is the point directly above the viewer’s head, and the atmosphere is the layer of air in between.
Look carefully and all three are on the sheet: the dark bar at the bottom works as the horizon, the bright arch at the top as the highest point of the sky, and the soft haze filling everything as the atmosphere.
The sources we rely on give no explanation from Klee himself, so this is only one possible reading.
Why does such a quiet painting hold the eye?
Many of Klee’s works are full of bright colour, figures and jokes. This sheet is different: almost colourless, with no figure at all, built from light and shadow, so it calms a room.
Klee was a Swiss-born German artist, the son of a music teacher and a singer, and he played the violin from childhood, later in an orchestra too. Rilke likened his drawings to music written down; here the red dot reads like a single note and the rays like its echo.
This sheet has no Wikipedia article of its own, so for the painter’s life we point you to the detailed Wikipedia article on Paul Klee, written in English.
Where is the original, and what is its history?
The original belongs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, inventory number 48.1172.533. It is watercolour and graphite on paper, 37.1 x 27 cm (height x width).
Klee made it in 1925, while he was teaching at the Bauhaus. He taught there from January 1921 to April 1931, alongside Wassily Kandinsky.
The sheet has a darker chapter too: it was among the works the Nazis seized. In 1937 seventeen of Klee’s works were shown in the “Degenerate art” exhibition, and 102 of his works were taken from public collections. Klee died in 1940.
Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere or another Klee?
This is the canvas painting for anyone who wants calm and light on the wall rather than loud colour.
If you like Klee’s crystalline forms, look at The Idea of Firs from 1917, where pale planes break like glass. For a warmer room there is Tropical Gardening, a long, glowing orange-red band with tiny plants. If you want more tension, you will find it in Public Duel from 1932, with its heavy black brushwork, and for a smile there is Fright of a Girl, a big pale head with round eyes.
Our whole selection of famous Paul Klee paintings, each painted to order, is gathered on our Paul Klee page.
How do we hand-paint Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere on canvas?
Klee’s original is not an oil but a small watercolour with graphite on paper. We carry it over to canvas: this Paul Klee reproduction is worked in oil or acrylic, in the size you choose, layer by layer.
First the painter pencils in the arch, the slanting line, the bar at the bottom and the point the rays come from. These forms must sit precisely, because everything else is soft. Then he builds up the haze in thin, diluted layers: the beige ground, the grey-lilac edges and the plum beams that melt into each other without hard borders.
He suggests the grain of the original with light dabbing and dry brushstrokes, and last of all adds the red dot and the fine straight rays.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 30 x 40 or 40 x 55 cm for a hallway, a shelf or above a bedside table, 47 x 62 and 60 x 81 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 74 x 104 and 95 x 128 cm above the sofa, and 120 x 160 or 151 x 200 cm for a tall empty wall or a stairwell.
We paint it in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 30 x 40, 40 x 55, 47 x 62, 60 x 81, 74 x 104, 95 x 128, 120 x 160 and 151 x 200 cm. The sheet measures 27 x 37.1 cm (width x height), so every one of our sizes enlarges the small work; even the smallest is a little bigger than the paper, and at 151 x 200 cm the painting is more than five times as wide as it is in New York.
As a painting for the living room it looks best at 95 x 128 cm above the sofa or beside the dining table, where its quiet tones pull the room together. In a bedroom, 60 x 81 or 74 x 104 cm above the bed works well.
Can I order other proportions or a frame?
Yes. If you need different proportions, we keep the arch, the red dot and the bottom bar whole and widen or narrow only the haze at the edges. Such an oil painting reproduction keeps every essential form in place. Tell us your custom size, and we will come back with the price and the time it takes.
The painting travels to you rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia takes care of stretching and framing and packs each painting securely. The moulding is your choice, made in our 3D app, which serves frame selection alone; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
Beige and grey go well with a slim oak frame, a grey-washed moulding or a plain white frame.
When will my painting arrive?
Once you confirm, the painter starts work; within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to ship. Before that we send you a photograph of the finished work and, if you wish, make changes.
Within the EU, Slovenia included, there are no customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
It makes a calm gift for a new home or a wedding. If you are unsure which size will fit, give a gift voucher and leave the choice to the person receiving it.
Frequently asked questions
Which museum owns the original?
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, under inventory number 48.1172.533.
What exactly is shown?
A pale arch of sky at the top, rays from a tiny red dot near the centre and a dark grey bar along the bottom.
Is this a print?
No. It is brushwork: a hand-painted copy made on canvas in oil or acrylic.
How big is the original sheet?
37.1 x 27 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 151 x 200 cm.
Is a size outside the list possible?
Yes. Give us the width and height, and we will send the price and the time needed.
How long will I wait?
Allow 15 to 45 working days; we show you the finished painting in a photo before it ships.
Is it right for a bedroom, or as a gift?
Yes. The calm beige and grey tones suit a bedroom, and as a gift it pleases anyone who likes quiet modern art.
What does the red dot mean?
Klee did not explain it; you can read it as a sun, a star or the point from which light spreads.
- Subject: a pale arch of sky, rays from a tiny red dot and a dark grey horizon bar in beige, grey and plum.
- Original: watercolour and graphite on paper, 1925, 37.1 x 27 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 upright sizes from 30 x 40 to 151 x 200 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: made during Klee’s Bauhaus years; the sheet was among the works the Nazis seized.
