Swiss-German painter Paul Klee was a pioneer of abstraction who experimented with cubism, surrealism, and expressionism. Klee was born in Switzerland in 1879. His parents were musicians, and an early interest in music influenced his artistic career.

In 1906, Klee moved to Munich, where he joined German expressionist collective Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). The painter cultivated a signature style: he used bright colors and geometric shapes to produce fantastical works with a surrealist quality.

In the early 1920s, Klee joined the faculty at the Bauhaus, an iconic German school of art and design. In 1933, he left Germany to escape the growing influence of the Nazi Party, returning to his native Switzerland. The artist lived there until his death in 1940.