Description
Villa R is a painting by Paul Klee from 1919: a white villa stands beside a red road winding into the mountains, a yellow full moon shines above it, and in the foreground a large green letter R rises out of the landscape. The original is a small oil on cardboard, just 26.5 x 22.4 cm, and it belongs to the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland. We paint it for you by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 8 upright sizes from 36 x 43 to 172 x 200 cm, or made to measure. Before it leaves us, you get a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Villa R |
| Other titles: | Villa R (the same title in every language) |
| Painter: | Paul Klee (1879–1940) |
| Year painted: | 1919 |
| Original size: | 26.5 cm x 22.4 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on cardboard |
| Painting style: | Modernism |
| Located at: | Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil or acrylic on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Villa R – Paul Klee
What does Villa R show?
At the centre stands a white villa built from upright planes of white, pink, blue and violet. It has a steep pitched roof, a window in the gable crossed by thin white lines, and a small red dot perched on the very tip of the ridge.
A wide red road runs in front of the villa. It is broadest at the lower left, then sweeps across the middle and narrows towards the right edge, where it vanishes into the dark land. Green hills rise behind the house, and above them lies a band of brown, jagged mountains.
At the upper right a round yellow full moon glows; at the upper left stands a large green crescent. The sky is almost black, edged only in the top corners by warm orange-brown patches.
In the right foreground stands a large green capital R, nearly as tall as the villa. It does not float above the scene like a caption but stands on the ground, as though it were part of the landscape.
What does the letter R stand for?
The title keeps the secret: it names only the villa and the letter. According to English Wikipedia, the R is believed to stand for Rosa. In the early 1900s Klee had seen a Villa Rosa on his travels through Italy, with Goethe’s Italian Journey as his companion.
So the painting may be the memory of a journey more than ten years old, which Klee distilled in 1919 into planes, colours and a single letter.
Why does Villa R hold the eye?
The composition rests on two diagonals. The red road crosses the painting from the lower left towards the right, while a row of green shapes, the R among them, forms a second diagonal that cuts across the first. The villa stands exactly where they meet, which is why your gaze keeps returning to it.
English Wikipedia’s article on Klee says that Villa R unites visible realities such as sun, moon, mountains, trees and architecture.
Five years earlier, in April 1914, Klee had travelled to Tunisia with August Macke and Louis Moilliet, and there he made his breakthrough in colour. That journey produced the watercolour St. Germain near Tunis, with violet peaks and pink fields; in Villa R the colours turn darker and denser, yet the landscape is still built from planes.
The composition and the story of the Villa Rosa are summed up in a Wikipedia article on Villa R, written in English.
Where is the original, and how did it reach Basel?
The original belongs to the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland. Klee painted it in oil on cardboard and kept it very small: 26.5 x 22.4 cm (height x width), roughly the size of a sheet of A4 paper.
Its road to Basel was not straightforward. In 1939 the Nazis confiscated the painting as so-called degenerate art from a gallery in Frankfurt am Main. Together with other seized works it was sent to Lucerne in Switzerland, where the Kunstmuseum Basel acquired it; it has stayed there ever since.
Villa R or another Klee?
Villa R is a canvas painting for anyone drawn to landscapes with a touch of mystery: the night scene with moon, house and road feels familiar and strange at once.
From the same year comes Swamp Legend, also oil on cardboard, with little houses, a church and fir trees in a dark, dreamlike landscape. If you want more light and warmer tones, look at Castle and Sun from 1928, a city of small rectangles and triangles beneath a large orange-red sun. For lovers of drawing there is Episode at Kairouan, a sheet from 1920 that looks back on the Tunisian trip.
To compare more subjects, browse the famous Paul Klee paintings we offer on our Paul Klee page.
How do we hand-paint Villa R on canvas?
Klee’s original is oil on cardboard, hardly bigger than a sheet of paper. Ours is an oil painting reproduction on canvas: the painter works in oil or acrylic, at the size you choose, so the result is far larger than Klee’s board and hangs like any other painting.
The paint goes on layer by layer: first the dark green and brown ground, then the mountains, the hill and the road, then the white, pink and blue planes of the villa, and finally the yellow moon, the red dot on the ridge and the thin white lines of the window.
Which size suits your wall?
In short: 36 x 43 or 46 x 55 cm for a hallway, a shelf or a work corner, 54 x 65 and 72 x 85 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, 90 x 107 and 102 x 122 cm above a sofa, and 132 x 160 or 172 x 200 cm for a tall empty wall or a stairwell.
We paint Villa R in 8 upright sizes (width x height): 36 x 43, 46 x 55, 54 x 65, 72 x 85, 90 x 107, 102 x 122, 132 x 160 and 172 x 200 cm. The original measures 22.4 x 26.5 cm (width x height), so even our smallest size is larger than Klee’s board, and the largest is more than seven times as wide and as tall.
As a painting for the living room it works best at 90 x 107 or 102 x 122 cm above the sofa, where the dark tones give the room depth and the red road and yellow moon bring it to life.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for different proportions, we adapt the painting so that the villa, the road, the moon and the R stay whole, and only the dark edges of the landscape grow wider or narrower. Both diagonals stay in place. Send us your custom size and we will reply with a price and a delivery date.
It can travel to you rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or already in its frame. The stretcher and frame are fitted by our workshop in Slovenia. The moulding is chosen in our 3D app, whose only job is the choice of frame; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A slim dark wood frame or a black moulding suits the deep greens and reds.
When will your Villa R arrive?
As soon as you confirm the order, the painter starts work, and the painting is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like a change, we make it.
Within Slovenia and across the EU we ship without customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
A villa under a full moon makes a lovely housewarming present, and the R makes it more personal still for a Rosa, a Robert or anyone whose name begins with R. If you are unsure which size will fit, give a wall art voucher and let the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, which acquired it after its confiscation in 1939.
What is painted in Villa R?
A white villa by a red road leading to the mountains, a yellow full moon, a green crescent and a large green R.
Is it a print?
No. Each one is a hand-painted copy, brushed onto canvas by our painter in oil or acrylic.
How small is Klee’s original?
Only 26.5 x 22.4 cm (height x width); our sizes go up to 172 x 200 cm.
Could I have Villa R in a size you do not list?
Yes. Tell us the width and height you have in mind and we will come back with a price and a date.
How long will I wait for it?
Making it takes 15 to 45 working days, and before dispatch you get a photograph of the finished work.
Is Villa R right for a bedroom, or as a gift?
Yes. The quiet night scene suits a bedroom, and as a gift it fits a housewarming or anyone with the initial R.
Why is there a big R in the landscape?
English Wikipedia says it is believed to stand for Rosa, after a Villa Rosa that Klee had seen in Italy.
- Subject: a white villa by a red road, a yellow full moon, a green crescent and a large green R in a dark landscape.
- Original: oil on cardboard, 1919, 26.5 x 22.4 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel.
- Ours: a Paul Klee reproduction painted by hand on canvas in oil or acrylic, in 8 upright sizes between 36 x 43 and 172 x 200 cm, or to your own measurements.
- Worth knowing: confiscated by the Nazis in Frankfurt in 1939, then acquired in Lucerne by the Kunstmuseum Basel.
