Lot 209 Dα

Paul Klee and Will Grohmann probably first met in person all the way back in 1920, when the two became acquainted with each other at the Galerie Arnold on the occasion of the autumn exhibition “Dresdner Sezession Gruppe 1919”, which Grohmann had helped organise and which also presented works by Klee, among others. Grohmann particularly admired Klee throughout his life, as is demonstrated by their extensive correspondence, the critic's many texts and publications and, not least, several works of extraordinary quality in his collection. The first article Grohmann published in Christian Zervos's “Cahiers d'art” was about Klee: appearing in 1928, it marked the beginning of his many years of collaboration with the Parisian gallerist. For decades, Paul Klee found his most important supporter, interpreter and biographer in Will Grohmann, and the exceptional element in this multifaceted relationship lay in the personal affinity between the artist and critic. At the end of his biography, Grohmann expresses his esteem: “Klee's greatness lies in imperturbable loyalty to himself. He demanded everything from himself and even sacrificed success at every step of his development. He moved beyond it, did not permit his fame to catch up to him and thought only of how he could do things better. This determination did not, however, prevent him from being cheerful. He took the most agitating things in his stride and transformed them into something meaningful. He was also cheerful in his work, because it stirred his greatest powers; by continuously intensifying his orientation on an artistic level, ever deeper secrets responded to him.” (Will Grohmann, Paul Klee, Genf/Stuttgart, p. 382).
The charming physiognomic study “Bildnisskizze Frau C II” was presumably given to Will Grohmann, who was always particularly interested in Klee's drawings, by the art dealer Harry Fischer as compensation for many years of work curating and presenting art. Together with Fischer, Grohmann had organised a special exhibition on the painters of the Bauhaus at London's Marlborough Gallery in 1962; Grohmann loaned a splendid work from his own collection to this show - “Sonnenuntergang” (Cat. Rais. Paul Klee 5327), which he sold through Fischer several years later, after thoroughly thinking over this decision (cf. exhib. cat. Im Netzwerk der Moderne, Dresden 2012/2013, catalogue volume, p. 215).