“Stage Landscape” is one of Klee’s explorations of shape and color, based on a few simple shapes and gestures. As such it forms a quirky but consistent set of colors and shapes across the canvas. Climbing, curving, sometimes vaguely organic shapes invite the eye to walk across the space, and the discontinuous order of the colors creates a dynamic counterpoint to the shapes. Yet all the color regions are encapsulated, enforcing the view that each region has independence.
The use of asymmetric patterns, a simple, direct set of basic colors, quirky jumps of shape and color between sections, are all traits of the compositions and improvisations of Thelonius Monk. “Well You Needn’t”, a composition with it’s own climbing and descending chord progressions, repeated shades of musical color, and insistent reuse of a quirky, jumping musical idea, seems a perfect foil for improvisations to bring the painting to life. During the improvisation I tried to bring out specific combinations of colors the eye might experience together in viewing. The darker colors sit near the edges, brightest colors in the middle, as the eye travels up and down the passageways and lines in the work.
Treatment: Dance of lines and color blocks
- Eye walks from upper left down the steps, then back up the right
- Recenters at center bright spots, then cascades slowly outward based on specific color/shape combinations
- Line combinations are traversed and compared
- Color groupings that make compound shapes are explores
- Reiteration of the flow, with new color/line/shape combinations
At the end one sums up the experience with a final dance of all colors and shapes flickering and playing. That’s known as the “out chorus” in jazz!
