Galerie Neue Kunst (Hans Goltz), Munich (acquired in December 1920)
Hans J. Kleinschmidt, New York (acquired by 1972)
Sale: Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, June 16, 1972, lot 541
Berggruen & Cie, Paris (acquired in 1972)
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York (acquired in 1977)
Private Collection, Detroit (acquired from the above in April 1977)
Private Collection, United States (acquired from the above and sold: Christie's, New York, November 6, 2014, lot 158)
Acquired at the above sale

Munich, Galerie Neue Kunst (Hans Goltz), Paul Klee, 1920, no. 244
Dresden, Galerie Ernst Arnold, Handzeichnungen Deutscher Meister, 1921, no. 507
New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, Der Blau Reiter und sein Kreis, 1977, no. 36, illustrated in color in the catalogue

The Paul Klee Foundation & Museum of Fine Arts, Bern, eds., Paul Klee Catalogue Raisonné, 1919-1922, vol. III, Bern, 1999, no. 2376, illustrated p. 163

Executed on cream wove paper which has not been laid down. The sheet is hinged to the mat to the reverse of the top edge. There are nicks and small losses to the paper at the top, right and left edges, located in the margins and hidden by the mat. There is a mat stain around the periphery of the sheet (hidden by the mat), measuring between 1/4 and 1 in. in width. There is minor time fading to the sheet. The pigments are otherwise fresh and lively. The work is in overall 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Executed in 1920, the present work represents one of the most innovative and diverse periods of the artist's career. While many of Klee's works from this period are abstract compositions, inspired by the Bauhaus belief in a constructivist art, others, such as Die Dorfverrückte, introduce playful and witty figurative elements. 

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, Die Dorfverrückte evidences his particular artistic magic. It incorporates the enigmati♓c, Surrealist sensibility that inspired him at this time as well as the use of "polyphonic" color play which became his signatu⛦re style. Klee 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 twentieth 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), Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York, 1993, pp. 26-27).