"Glance of a Landscape" by Paul Klee

Glance of a Landscape

Paul Klee depicts many different features In the painting “Glance of a Landscape.” In the foreground there are two sets of elegantly aligned stairs. Majestically mysterious mountains hiding the mystery that lies behind it are shown in the background of the painting. In the midground there are many trees on both sides of the very large eye. Fading in the background, the three large mountains loom over the horizon. The eye, a large and mysterious figure, watches the viewer with its crimson eyeball. The gloomy background colors give the painting a dark mysterious tone.  The mix of dark purple, grey and red give the sense of darkness.

The cut-out lines on the corners of the painting create a mysterious effect because the whole painting is a dark color while one or two shapes are plain colors. The dark blue color adds to the spooky effect of this entire painting. The bold tone of the eye in the center is the leading eye line of the viewer. If any viewer looked at this painting, the first aspect that would catch their attention is the mysterious eye in the dead center of the painting. Paul Klee has composed the piece purposely to add to the mystery, leaving this eye in the center with elements nowhere near similar to an eye. It gives the abstract feeling to the painting as a whole. The last element of note is the composition. The mountains are distorted in the background. The mountains are juxtaposed to each other to show the vast variety of them.

The meaning of this piece is most likely the mystery of the woods. The eye resembles the mysterious feeling of being watched. The meaning of putting the eye in the center is to draw the viewer to it and bring the curiosity to people’s attention. The mountaintops resemble the seclusion felt in the woods. They also symbolize the feeling of being trapped in nature, acting as the barrier preventing the viewer from leaving the darkness. The blue and purple colors give the painting that feeling of darkness in the woods. The stick figure tress create a feeling of confusion. The meaning is that the woods are a very spooky and mysterious place.

Annotation Notes:

The painting has many different features to it. In the foreground there are two sets of elegantly aligned stairs. In the background there are majestically mysterious mountains hiding the mystery that lies behind it. In the midground there are many trees on both sides of the very large eye. Fading in the background, the three large mountains loom over the horizon. The eye, a large and mysterious figure, watches the viewer with its crimson eyeball. The dark gloomy background colors give the painting a dark mysterious tone.  The mix of dark purple, grey and red give the sense of darkness.