A small room in Venice

This is a small, quiet thing, a pastel not much bigger than a postcard. Its German title, Ein Stubchen in Venedig, means a little room in Venice, and Klee builds that room from soft chalk squares of violet, pink and grey, an interior folded down until it lies almost flat on the sheet. Pastel was an unusual medium for him. The dry chalk lets each edge stay slightly furred instead of drawn sharp, which is where the small room gets its hush. He had first seen Venice as a young man on a long study journey through Italy, and rooms like this one clearly stayed with him for a long time afterwards.