The artwork titled “Necropolis,” created by Paul Klee in 1929, is an abstract work that reflects the tenets of abstract art which Klee was associated with during his creative period. Housed in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany, this piece is a testament to Klee’s exploration of color and form, which is characteristic of the abstract genre.
The artwork represents a complex interplay of geometric shapes and subdued colors. Multiple triangles of varying sizes and colors dominate the composition, intersecting and overlapping to create a sense of depth and structure. The tones are predominantly earthy—browns, grays, greens, and touches of red—arranged in such a way that they evoke the stratification of geological formations or the layers of an ancient city seen from above. Despite its title “Necropolis,” which means a large, designed cemetery or historic burial ground, there is an absence of explicit representational elements that would depict a cemetery or cityscape traditionally.
The strict geometric order, alongside the stratified, almost architectural layers of color and form, might suggest an organized, albeit abstracted, view of a city of the dead—a necropolis—an interpretation that aligns with the title Klee has given to the piece. Klee’s expertise in color theory and his explorative abstract style culminate in this work, offering a silent reflection on mortality, the passage of time, or potentially the remnants of a once-thriving civilization.
