Description
Limits of Reason is a painting by Paul Klee from 1927: high up in a warm orange-pink haze floats a dark red-brown sphere, and below it a thin line and a ladder lead down to a dense web of fine lines, planes and triangles at the bottom. The original is tempera on canvas, 56.3 x 41.5 cm, and it belongs to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. Our painter paints 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 we pack it, we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Limits of Reason |
| Other titles: | Grenzen des Verstandes (German title) · Limiti della ragione (Italian title) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1927 |
| Original size: | 56.3 cm x 41.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on canvas |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Limits of Reason – Paul Klee
What does Limits of Reason show?
The background is a soft haze, warm orange and pink in the upper half, fading towards the edges into cream and a greyish white. There is no horizon and no measurable space, so everything drawn on it seems to hang in the air.
Near the top, exactly in the middle, hangs a perfectly round sphere in a dark reddish brown, outlined with a thin line. Just beneath it spreads a blue-grey shadow, as if the sphere were casting its shade onto the mist. A straight, thin line drops from its lower edge, and beside it two narrow ladders zigzag downwards.
The lower half is filled by a large web of fine lines in red-brown, violet and grey. They build overlapping planes, steps, hatching and small triangles. In the middle of the web sit two points that look like eyes, joined by narrow rays. At the top right there is a small handwritten inscription with Klee’s name and the year.
What does the title mean?
The painting does not spell out its meaning, but the title offers a key. Above is a single pure form, perfect and still; below, a crowd of lines that cross, break and never reach an end.
English Wikipedia describes how the static, perfect red sphere, which seems frozen and floating in the white upper part, contrasts with the dynamic, complicated filigree of lines in the lower part. Writing in The Atlantic, Veronique Greenwood read that distance as the gap between the human capacity for reason and the human wish to understand fully.
A viewer may see in the lower web a mind that builds, calculates and draws up plans, and in the sphere a goal that stays out of reach. What exactly the sphere means, the painting does not say, which leaves room for your own reading.
Why is this painting so well known?
It was made during Klee’s Bauhaus years, which English Wikipedia calls his most prolific period as a teacher. He taught at the school from January 1921 to April 1931, alongside Wassily Kandinsky.
In colour and structure it has been compared with the work of Kasimir Malevich.
Born in 1879 in Münchenbuchsee near Bern, Klee was the son of a German music teacher and a Swiss singer. He played the violin from childhood, in an orchestra as well, and Rilke felt that his drawings read like transcriptions of music.
More on its owners and readings is in the Wikipedia article on this painting, which is in English.
Where is the original, and how did it get there?
The original belongs to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, where it is part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections under inventory number 14234. It is tempera on canvas, 56.3 cm high and 41.5 cm wide.
In 1928 the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim bought it for his private collection, and in 1931 he lent it to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. By 1958 it was owned by Theodor and Woty Werner, and in 1971 their legacy brought it into the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
In the same year Klee also painted Variations (Progressive Motif), a nearly square field of bands filled with fine parallel lines.
Limits of Reason or another work by Klee?
Limits of Reason is a canvas painting for people who love calm, airy walls: plenty of warm empty space, a single dark sphere and a fine drawing that only reveals itself up close.
If you want more colour, look at Architecture from 1923, a town built of soft coloured rectangles. Warmer and more cheerful is Oriental Pleasure Garden, scattered with small dabs of blossom on a blue-violet ground, while Angel, Still Groping from 1939 is a gentle choice.
Our Paul Klee page gathers the famous Paul Klee paintings we paint to order, so you can compare them side by side.
How do we hand-paint Limits of Reason?
Klee’s original is tempera on canvas, about 56 x 42 cm. Ours is an oil painting reproduction on fresh canvas, worked in oil or acrylic in the size you choose, so it hangs on your wall as a real painted work, not a poster.
The painter first lays down the haze of the background in thin, translucent layers, so that the warm orange and pink melt softly into creamy white. Next he draws and fills the sphere and adds the blue-grey shadow beneath it with a light, blurred touch.
The lower web takes longest. Every line is drawn with a fine brush, layer by layer, so that the hatching, ladders and triangles stay sharp and clearly separate. The result is a hand-painted copy in which the small drawing stays readable even at a large size.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 30 x 40 or 40 x 52 cm for a narrow wall or a shelf, 45 x 60 and 58 x 75 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 73 x 100 and 91 x 127 cm above a sofa or a bed, and 120 x 160 or 151 x 200 cm for a tall, empty wall or a stairwell.
We paint Limits of Reason in 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 41.5 x 56.3 cm (width x height), so the two smallest sizes are a little smaller than it and all the others enlarge it; at 151 x 200 cm the painting is more than three and a half times as wide as it is in Munich.
As a painting for the living room it looks best at 91 x 127 or 120 x 160 cm, with the sphere high above the sofa and the web of lines at eye level.
Can I order it made to measure, or framed?
Yes. The background is a soft haze without edges, so we can widen or narrow it without touching the sphere, the ladders or the web of lines. Send us the width and height you have in mind and we will reply with a price and a delivery date.
We ship it rolled, on a stretcher bar or in a frame, as you prefer. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which also protects every painting carefully before dispatch. You pick the frame in our 3D app, which serves only that choice; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
How long do painting and delivery take?
Work begins once you confirm your order, and Limits of Reason is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you want anything changed, we change it.
Deliveries inside Slovenia and the wider EU carry no customs charges, and our returns policy applies to every order.
Limits of Reason makes a thoughtful gift for a teacher, a researcher or a new graduate. If you do not know their wall, give them a wall art voucher and let them choose the work and the size.
Frequently asked questions
Which museum holds the original?
The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, under inventory number 14234.
What does the sphere at the top stand for?
The painting does not say; the title and its readers see it as a goal that reason, with all its plans, never fully reaches.
Is it a printed poster?
No. Our painter paints it by hand with brushes on canvas, in oil or acrylic.
How large is the original?
It measures 56.3 x 41.5 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 151 x 200 cm.
Can I order a size that is not listed?
Yes. Send us the width and height and we will reply with an offer and a date.
How long will I wait for my painting?
Between 15 and 45 working days; before dispatch you get a photograph of the finished work.
Is it suitable for an office or a bedroom?
Yes. The calm warm tones and the generous empty space feel restful, so it suits a work corner or a bedroom.
Who owned the painting before the museum?
Alfred Flechtheim from 1928, later Theodor and Woty Werner, and from 1971 the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
- Subject: a dark red-brown sphere above a warm haze, with ladders and a dense web of fine lines, planes and triangles below.
- Original: tempera on canvas, 1927, 56.3 x 41.5 cm, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.
- Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction made by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, in 8 sizes (30 x 40 up to 151 x 200 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: painted during Klee’s Bauhaus years; part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections since 1971.
