Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Munich (until June 1920)
Harry Fuld Senior, Frankfurt
Harry Fuld Junior, Frankfurt (by descent from the above in 1932)
Seized by the German Customs authority at the Dutch border and taken to a depository at Neuwied in the Rhineland
(possibly) Hermann Lange, Bellevuestrasse, Berlin
Allied art depot at Schloss, Kogl, Salzburg
Central Collecting Point, Munich (March 15, 1946: inv. No. 21011/16)
Jewish Restitution Successor Organisation (May 29, 1949)
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (received in custody from JRSO to the Bezalel National Museum, 1950-1965, and thereafter in custody of its successor institution, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1965-2010)

Munich, Galerie Neue Kunst Hans Goltz, Paul Klee, 1920, no. 247
Jena, Kunst-Verein zu Jena, Paul Klee, 1920, no. 29
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Die Maler am Bauhaus, 1950, no. 180
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Modern Masterworks on Paper, 1999
London, Hayward Gallery, Paul Klee - The Nature of Creation, 2002

Leopold Zahn, Paul Klee. Leben, Werk, Geist, Potsdam, 1920, illustrated p. 85
Hans Hildebrandt, Die Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Wildpark-Potsdam, 1931, p. 422
Will Grohmann, Paul Klee, Geneva & Stuttgart, 1954, p. 144
Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, Klee, La vie et l'oeuvre, Paris, 1957, illustrated
James Smith Pierce, Paul Klee and the Primitive Art, New York & London, 1976, pp. 43 & 46
K. Porter Aichele, 'Paul Klee's Operatic Themes and Variations' in The Art Bulletin, vol. 68, no. 3, September 1986, illustrated p. 460
Sarah Lynn Henry, 'Paul Klee's Pictorial Mechanics from Physics to the Picture Plane' in Pantheon, vol. 47, 1989, p. 156
Jenny Anger, Modernism and the Gendering of Paul Klee, Dissertation, Brown University, 1997, pp. 205 & 207
Paul Klee Stiftung (ed.), Paul Klee, Catalogue raisonné, Bern, 1999, vol. III, no. 2379, illustrated p. 164 (catalogued incorrectly as oil and watercolor on paper)
Meira Perry-Lehman, ed., Modern Masterworks on Paper from the Israel Museum (exhibition catalogue), Jerusalem, 1999
Robert Kudielka, Paul Klee – The Nature of Creation, Works 1914-1940 (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London, 2002

Executed on cream laid paper laid down on the artist's mount. Mount is then t-hinged to a mat at three spots along top edge. Some minor creases at the top of the sheet inherent to the artist's process. Water stain on the mount extending from upper left corner to the middle of the left edge. One quarter inch water stain along the right edge and two spots near center of bottom edge. These do not extend onto the sheet. Colors are bright and fresh. Work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Executed in 1920, the present work represents one of the most innovative and diverse periods of the artist's career. While many of the artist's works from this period are abstract compositions, inspired by the Bauhaus belief in a constructivist art, others, such as Schleiertanz, introduce charming and witty elements.  The ✤movement of the dancing creat💝ure in the present work is brilliantly evoked by the interweaving lines which at the same time represent the figure's veil.

Discussing the endearing way in which Klee introduces the human elements into his works, Will Grohmann observed "Entire human figures may emerge from the schematic pattern...while the interplay of space and associative elements may be modified in various ways, it never produces volume- not even through added limbs or shaded edges. [..] the precise unadorned geometry of the shapes appears to contradict their human significance to such a degree that the effect of the whole is comic- a comedy based on the form" (Will Grohmann, Klee, New York, 1954, p. 282).

"Art is a likeness of Creation", Klee once wrote. "Occasionally, it is an example, just as the terrestrial may exemplify the cosmic." Diego Rivera often referred to the Swiss artist as a magician and believed Klee was a visual poet who could render the ethereal into form.  Indeed, Schleiertanz evidences his particular artistic magic.  It incorporates the enigmatic, Surrealist sensibility that inspired him at this time as well as the use of 'polyphonic' color play which became his signature style.  Kl💦ee dedicated much of his production to investigating the interrelationships of color by blending and interweaving opposing tones, beautifully exemplified in the present work.

At the heart of Klee's distinct and methodical approach to painting was his belief that his art was a manifestation of his innermost self.  The complex beauty of his paintings became the basis for his reputation as one of the great intellectual painters of the 20th century.  According to Andrew Kagan, "Klee's greatness as a colorist and his gift as a draftsman embrace a truly extraordinary range of diversity. [...] It must be understood that his ultimate ambitions embraced the concept of an art that would resolve all apparent contradiction, an art that would reconcile all dualities and oppositions – in other words, an art of the ultimate synthesis" (Andrew Kagan, Paul Klee at the Guggenheim Museum (exhibition catalogue), Guggenhe൲im Museum SoHo, New♑ York, 1993, pp. 26-27).