In 1920 Walter Gropius (German, 1883–1969) invited Paul Klee to teach at the Bauhaus—a highly influential art and design school in Germany that stressed art’s critical relationship to society and technology. There, he worked alongside a diverse group of artists that included Vassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy. The theme of balance was important to Klee, and several of his works feature a tightrope walker. During a lecture in 1921 he stated, “The tightrope walker with his pole (is a) ‘symbol of the balance of forces.’ He holds the forces of gravity in balance (weight and counterweight). He is a pair of scales.”

Label from Picasso: The Artist and His Models, November 5, 2016–February 19, 2017