Paul Klee's Musical Structure

We can see the shape of musical notes and letters without ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄｉｎｇ the meaning as sign.
We have innate ability of seeing shapes which I call Visual grammar.
Shapes have been used as sign because  we can distinguish each shape.
Artwork is the direct outcome of the grammar and music is its secondary application to sound.
Somehow the musical notation system was invented first.
As musical structure reflects shape structure, many artists got inspiration from music.
The reason why art theory equivqrent to music al theory has not been established is that the smallest element of art like musical note has not been located.

Although Kandinsky wrote about point, line and plane as elements, a visible point is a small black loop.
And the contour of a plane is also a loop.
A loop is a closed line and the parts of a line can be recognised separately as arcs like musical notes in a melody

I have chosen Klee's [Support for a shield] which I feel very musical among my cut out collection.

Though I found this digital work online too, I could only know two things: this is now in some German museum collection; this is used as illustration for the book ['in-between Painting and Music' or Thinking with Paul Klee and Anton Webern]


At first sight (without fixing view point, the size difference of the parts can be seen easily.
There are four dominant  curves and three loops.

We tend to see the center of each curve as the pole of a curve.
There are more noticeable points: the two ends of the line; the three intersections.

There are more gaze points on the line, which are noticeable because of position:
① the summits of convex
② the bottoms of convex

③ the right sides poles
④ the left sides poles
⑤ the changing points of bent.

All the gazing points can be connected to make a zigzag gazing point model.

The zigzag line can be converted into a curved line with the drawing tool.
Now the new curved line satisfies all the parameters.
Comparing this with the original, what this curve need is obvious.

What the mechanically drawn curve does not have is roundness.
A round curve can be constructed with arcs.

The coloured arc model can be made with eleven circles.
Erasing the circles, arc model can be made.

The arc model can be put together with the unit model.

I do not have to make circle models to select harmonious works.
It is innate ability to feel harmony.
Young Klee wrote in diary,
"When in Itary, I learned to understand archtectural monuments....
Even the dullest will understand that the obvious commensurabilty of parts, to each other and to the whole, corresponds to the hidden numerical proportions that exist in other artificial and natural organisms.
It is clear that these figures are not cold and dead but full of the breath of life, and the importance of measurements as an aid to study and creation becomes evident."

I picked two more harmonious works: [Caryatid] by Modigliani; [Golden Ball] by Shu Takahashi.