Once upon a time...

Macke, Street's view, 1914, watercolor

three friendly painters decided to look for light and color in Tunisia. Their names were Paul Klee, August Macke and Louis Moilliet.

The bond among the three was Moilliet. Klee had met him during school and never lost contact ever after. Macke’s wife had been Moilliet’s mother’s assistant and, in occasion of their honeymoon, the just married couple visits them, introducing the both painters to each other. Klee meets Macke in Moilliet’s house.

Macke, Market in Tunisia, 1914, watercolor

Klee was the older one, the most theoretical one, but one that still didn’t find his path in art. Moilliet was already quite established as painter. Macke was the youngest and was member of “The Blue Rider” and already sold well; he had work and pleasure together…

Klee wanted to go to Tunisia, but not alone, for a research trip in which they could paint and share experiences. He was especially attracted by Tunisia because Moilliet had been there already several times, just as Kandinsky, Matisse and many others. Moilliet was not really up for it but Klee insisted enough. After all, it was Moilliet who knew how to move around there.

In 1913’s Christmas, Klee’s and Moilliet’s go visit Macke’s family in Hilterfingen and Klee gets to fully convince them. Klee’s had already one kid and were short of money: they had to find a sponsor. The pharmacist Bornand offered to pay Klee’s trip in exchange for paintings; Macke was paid by his own patron, Koehler, for a harem painting. He was not running out of money, so he stays in Grand Hôtel de France. The other 2, in Dr. Jäggi’s house, a Swiss doctor that had already hosted Moilliet previously. They travel on 6^th April, during Easter, so that Klee’s son could stay with his grandparents in Bern and not miss school.

Klee, St.Germain's view, 1914, watercolor

They took watercolors while oilcolors stayed home. Macke travelled first to Provence to discover some of Cézanne and Braque. Meanwhile, Moilliet and Klee travelled together to Marseille, meeting and departure point. They crossed the Mediterranean on the Carthage, even though Klee had to deal with seasickness. In any case, Macke had enough medicines for that.

Moilliet, Tunis, 1914, watercolor

Dr. Jäggi welcomes them with his family. The doctor had in his house several violins and Klee couldn’t restrain himself from trying them: the three friends improvised together Arab music at a good pace. The next day, they stroll around the Arab neighborhood and start to paint. In the haven, Klee was still not satisfied: sea is the same everywhere, and watercolor would get dry too soon due to the heat and sand would also be there to disturb. He takes a bath but Macke didn’t want to, afraid of shark presence. During the night, they enjoyed an Arab music concert, with Belly Dancing included. Klee finds it a very melancholic music.

On 10^th, the doctor takes them on car to his house in St. Germain (nowadays called Ez-Zahra), but first he has to take the driving license’s test. It was a curious experience for the Swiss and German: all of them together in the car, going downhill in reverse, and with an examiner that takes a break while they have to wait in the car… Many works survived from that house: Macke told his wife that he never felt such joy in working and that he had done over 75 sketches! They celebrated Easter with the kids: they help them paint eggs, and since they couldn’t varnish them, the kids’ fingers ended up full of paint…

Macke, Café de Nattes, 1914, watercolor

They went to Sidi-Bou-Said (where Macke paints the Café de Nattes) and Carthage and go back to Tunis kind of late. On 14^th they travel on train to Hammamet: they were taken aback for the women not wearing veil, for scorpion eaters, and snake enchanters. Then they parted to Kairouan, but this time just to shorten some of their trip, they do some of it walking. They tried to walk fast through the sand (Europeans in Africa…), until they decided to walk along the train rails. In a café they see watercolors done by local artists and they buy them all. Once back in Tunis, Macke starts getting enthusiastic for souq, he likes to haggle, and buys an amber chain for his wife; Klee realizes he should do the same and buys a knife, leather pillows, an amulet, buckles and an old coin.




Klee decides to return earlier and travels back on 19^th to Palermo, Naples, and then on train to Rome and Florence. He needs some distance to assimilate all he learnt during the trip. In his journal he added “Color and I are one. I am a painter”. His trip to Tunisia meant a turn in his way of perceiving painting. He needs to arrive to experiment.

Klee, Kairouan's view, 1914, watercolor

Macke and Moilliet travel back on 22^nd, through Rome. Moilliet had barely painted during the trip while Macke had painted more than ever and took several pictures: all that was material for the future. As soon as he arrived home, he painted 17 paintings inspired in Tunisia.  Some of them would be embroidered by his wife and Moilliet’s mother. Macke then is called to combat in WWI and dies in Champagne a bit after. What he painted in Tunisia is his masterpiece.

Moilliet’s wife died in 1916 after giving birth to her first kid. The painter could not get over this, he gave his daughter to his sister-in-law and decided to amble around the world.

And Klee found the color, but we will keep talking about him in the future…

Klee, Garden in the european colony of St. Germain, 1914,
watercolor

Sources: Baumgartner, M. y otros. Die Tunisreise 1914. Bern, Zentrum Paul Klee, 2014

Klee, P. Tagebücher. Köln, DuMont, 1979

Meseure, A. August Macke. Köln, Benedikt Taschen, 1992

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