Paul Klee – The Idea of Firs

The Idea of Firs is a watercolour by Paul Klee from 1917: sharp, overlapping planes of pale blue, grey, peach, orange, yellow and olive green break apart like splinters of light or folded paper, and in the centre a small, dark, spiky shape that recalls a fir tree juts up from a little white window. The original is a tiny work in watercolour, ink and pastel on paper, about 31 x 23 cm with its mount, held by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. We paint it by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 8 upright sizes from 29 x 46 to 112 x 173 cm or made to measure. Once it is finished, you see it first in a photograph, and only then does it ship.

The Idea of Firs – Paul Klee

What does The Idea of Firs show?

At first glance there is no forest, no sky and no ground. The whole sheet is covered with straight, crisply cut planes that collide at different angles: grey-blue bands drop in from the left, a peach ribbon kinks like a staircase, and a broad yellow beam climbs from the lower right towards the top edge. The colours lie in transparent layers, so the paper glows through in places.

At the centre a small white field opens up, like a window or a clearing. Inside it stands a dark, almost black form with sharp points that rise like the tops of conifers, or like a fir seen from far away. To its left sits an even smaller black block.

The same jagged form returns at the top centre, this time in light peach, like an echo of the dark fir. A patch of blue at the upper left reads as a scrap of sky, and a wide yellow field fills the bottom of the sheet.

What does the title The Idea of Firs mean?

The title promises not a forest but the thought of one. Instead of trees as you meet them on a walk, Klee gives their essence, boiled down to a sign: a few dark points on white.

Around that sign the world splinters into planes: rays of light between trunks, mountain slopes, or folded paper from which a forest is still being assembled. Our sources give no explanation from the artist himself, so every reading stays open.

Klee drew on expressionism, cubism and surrealism; the planes here are cubist, but their colour is soft. With him the title often steers the eye: in Fright of a Girl it tells you what the figure feels, here it tells you what to look for among the planes.

Why do Klee lovers warm to this watercolour?

In 1914 Klee travelled to Tunisia with August Macke and Louis Moilliet, and that trip was his breakthrough in colour. The Idea of Firs came three years later and shows how surely he now built space from pure planes of colour.

Klee was conscripted as a reserve soldier in March 1916, and in January 1917 he was transferred to the Royal Bavarian flying school in Gersthofen, where he worked as a clerk for the treasurer until the war ended. A small room outside the barracks let him keep painting. That same year his work was selling well, and critics hailed him as the best of the new German artists.

For more on the painter, see the Wikipedia article on Paul Klee; it is in English and covers the artist, as this work has no article of its own.

Where is the original kept, and how big is it?

The original belongs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, under accession number 74.2101. It is a watercolour with ink and pastel on paper, which the museum measures together with its mount: 31.4 x 23.4 cm (height x width).

So the work is only a little larger than a sheet of A4. Klee often worked on modest supports such as paper, gauze or board, and he left more than 9,000 works, many of them just as small.

The Idea of Firs or another Klee?

The Idea of Firs is a canvas painting for people who love abstraction yet still want a foothold in nature.

If the sky draws you more than the forest, look at Horizon, Zenith and Atmosphere. Plant lovers will find a garden in Tropical Gardening, and anyone who likes theatrical titles should open Introducing the Miracle.

Our Paul Klee page gathers all the famous Paul Klee paintings our painters make to order.

How do we hand-paint The Idea of Firs on canvas?

To be clear: Klee’s original is not an oil painting but a small watercolour with ink and pastel on paper. Ours is a Paul Klee reproduction on canvas, done in oil or acrylic and in the size you pick, so it hangs on the wall as a true painting.

The painter first divides the canvas into planes with thin lines and checks every angle, because here the diagonals meet at exact points. Then he lays the colour on in thin, transparent layers, from light yellow and peach to grey-blue, to keep the lightness of the watercolour.

The dark fir in its little white window comes last, with a crisp edge so the points stay clean.

Which size suits your wall?

In short: 29 x 46 or 40 x 60 cm for a shelf, a bedside table or a narrow wall, 48 x 70 and 54 x 81 cm for a hallway or above a chest of drawers, 60 x 92 and 80 x 120 cm above a bed or sofa, and 90 x 135 or 112 x 173 cm for a tall, empty wall.

The Idea of Firs comes in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 29 x 46, 40 x 60, 48 x 70, 54 x 81, 60 x 92, 80 x 120, 90 x 135 and 112 x 173 cm. Even the smallest is larger than the original, which measures about 23 x 31 cm (width x height) with its mount; at 112 x 173 cm the painting is more than five times as tall as it is in New York.

As a painting for the living room it works best at 60 x 92 or 80 x 120 cm, perhaps beside a window or above a reading corner, where the light yellows and peaches brighten the wall.

Can I order another size or a frame?

Of course. If you need different proportions, we adapt the composition so that the white window with the fir stays whole and central, and we stretch or shorten only the planes along the edges. An oil painting reproduction made this way keeps everything that matters in the original. Tell us your custom size, and our reply will include the price and the time needed.

It travels the way you choose: rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar, or already framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches, frames and readies every canvas for the road. The frame itself is chosen in our 3D app, a tool for the moulding only; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.

How soon will the painting arrive?

Between your confirmation and dispatch, allow 15 to 45 working days. Before packing it, we send you a photograph of the finished work, and if you would like a change, we make it.

Within Slovenia and to the rest of the EU we ship without customs, and every order is covered by our returns policy.

It makes a lovely gift for anyone fond of mountains, forests and modern art. Unsure about their wall? Hand them a wall art voucher and the size becomes their call.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I see the original sheet?

At the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, accession number 74.2101.

What is in the centre of the painting?

A small, dark, spiky shape on a white field that recalls a fir tree or a cluster of conifers.

Is this a print?

No. You receive a hand-painted copy on canvas, in oil or acrylic, with no printing involved.

How large is the original?

With its mount it measures 31.4 x 23.4 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 112 x 173 cm.

Can I get a size that is not listed?

Yes. Tell us the width and height you need and we will prepare an offer.

How long will I wait for my painting?

Allow 15 to 45 working days; you see the finished canvas in a photograph before it leaves us.

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

Yes: the soft, light colours calm a bedroom, and nature lovers enjoy it as a gift.

Did Klee paint a real forest?

No, he painted an idea: a fir reduced to a few dark points, surrounded by sharp planes of colour.

• Subject: sharp planes of blue, grey, peach, orange and yellow around a dark fir on a white field.
• Original: watercolour, ink and pastel on paper, 1917, 31.4 x 23.4 cm with mount, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
• Ours: hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes from 29 x 46 to 112 x 173 cm, or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: Klee made it in 1917, while serving in the German army during the First World War.