With meticulous theories and many thousands of paintings, drawings, and watercolors, Paul Klee (1879-1940) is considered one of the most cerebral and prolific leaders of 20th-century European art. Though typically small in scale, his works are remarkable for their sophisticated thought and meticulous nuances of line, color, and tonality. Klee's stylistic formation was shaped by early affiliation with the German expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter and, in particular, by a 1914 trip to Tunisia which transformed his use of color. After the war, he taught at the esteemed Bauhaus school, where his lectures, like his emerging practice, emphasized the symbolic potential of shade, line, and geometry. Klee was also inspired by Cubism, poetry, music, literature, language, and the simplistic power of children's art. Famed for his simple stick figures, he often combined the appearance of untutored naivete with rigorous composition and intellectual significance. This book provides a selection of key Klee works to introduce his style and influence. From sun-drenched landscapes to enigmatic wordplay, discover a world at once simplistic, symbolic, and dazzlingly colorful. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

In 1904, Saxon artist Oskar Zwintscher painted the portrait of a lady smoking a cigarette. Today, the work has cult status at the Albertinum in Dresden. Her hair loose, a burning cigarette held casually in her hand, the sitter in a black reform dress is sitting in front of a black curtain. But who is behind the young woman who looks out of the picture so confidently? Andreas Dehmer and Susanna Partsch embark on a fascinating search for clues to the identity of the lady smoking. They find emancipated women who earned their living as artists, actors or writers, preferred reform dress to the corset, and regarded smoking as a symbol of independence. They follow them to metropolises like Berlin, Dresden or Munich, where they lived as part of the bohemian scene. A captivating picture of the way art and life intertwined around 1900 emerges in this search for the unknown.