Angelic Applicant (1939)

Among other of Klee's later works, this piece focused on death. Suffering from scleroderma, Klee created a number of works featuring misfit "angels", likely due to his own feelings about his disease and closeness to death. The piece is gouache, pen, and pencil on paper, a combination of tools from earlier and later in life. Holding true to his abstract style, Klee creates a strange, broken figure which remains oddly relatable. The pale, washed out color, pitch black eyes and broken form create an erie presence, but the round shape of the snout creates a sort of smile and the shape of the eyes feels gentle and calm, almost longing as they stare at the moon.