Announcement
The Jewish Museum presents the first US exhibition dedicated to the late works of an artist, created in reaction to the fascist era of the 1930s. This exhibition is open until July 26, 2026.
Paul Klee, “Angel Applicant (Engel-Anwärter)” (1939), opaque watercolor, brush and black ink, and graphite on paper mounted on board, 25 3/4 × 17 1/2 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984, 1984.315.60. (© 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds delves into the journey of the Swiss-German artist as he left the Bauhaus and navigated the turbulent political climate of the 1930s until his death in 1940. This exhibition is the first in the US to examine the significant creative work from the last ten years of Paul Klee’s life. Displayed at the Jewish Museum, Other Possible Worlds showcases 100 paintings and drawings that span Klee’s career, including seldom-seen pieces from the 1930s and 1940s. These works present a profound look at Klee’s late artistic period, characterized by his unique individuality and imagination as a stand against Nazi ideology and oppression.
Born in Switzerland in 1879 to a music teacher and singer, Klee initially trained in violin before turning to the visual arts during his teens. Throughout his early career, he participated in various emerging art movements and gained a respected reputation over a decade at the Bauhaus. In 1931, he left his teaching role to concentrate on painting and took up a position at the Düsseldorf Academy. However, with Hitler’s rise to power, the National Socialists labeled his art as subversive and dismissed him, calling him “a Galician Jew.” As an exile in his own birthplace, Klee abandoned his bright painting style to engage with the grim reality of fascism and, later, the impact of scleroderma, a then-fatal autoimmune disease.
The exhibition traces Klee’s evolution, highlighting his continuous quest to develop innovative methods for expressing social criticism, non-conformity, and mythopoetic thinking. It also showcases his efforts in crafting a novel language to address the horrors of political oppression and violence.
Curated by Mason Klein, Senior Curator Emeritus, and organized by the Jewish Museum in collaboration with Zentrum Paul Klee and Kunstmuseum Bern, Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds is open at the Jewish Museum, located at 5th Ave and 92nd St in New York City, until July 26, 2026.
For more information, visit thejewishmuseum.org.
