This flower wishes to fade, 1939, Watercolor on paper, Paul Klee (1879-1940)

The watercolor presents a stylized portrait executed with a restrained palette and simplified forms. The subjects face is rendered in muted pink tones, contrasted by areas of blue-green that define the hair and suggest shadows. These colors are applied in washes, creating a delicate, almost translucent quality to the work.
Here we see an attempt at capturing a likeness, but one heavily filtered through abstraction. Facial features are reduced to essential shapes: eyes indicated by small, dark circles, a thin line for the mouth, and a suggestion of a nose formed by a subtle indentation in the central plane of the face. The hair is depicted as a large, block-like form that dominates the upper portion of the composition, its edges softened with washes of color.
The overall effect is one of quiet melancholy. The limited color range contributes to this mood, evoking a sense of fragility and introspection. The simplification of features removes any overt expression, leaving the viewer to project their own emotions onto the subject. Theres an intentional flatness to the image; depth is not explored, which reinforces the feeling of detachment.
The inscription at the bottom, though illegible in detail, provides a temporal anchor – 1939 – placing the work within a period marked by significant global upheaval. This context lends weight to the painting’s somber tone and suggests that it might reflect anxieties or uncertainties prevalent during that time. The artists choice of watercolor, a medium often associated with intimacy and immediacy, further enhances this sense of personal reflection. It is not an exuberant depiction but rather a contemplative study in form and color, hinting at underlying emotional complexities.