“Heroic Roses” (1938), also known as “Heroische Rosen”, is an emblematic painting from Paul Klee’s late period, created two years before his death. Held at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, it reflects the personal and political tensions that marked the artist’s final years. The work, an oil on satin canvas measuring 68 × 52 cm (20.5 x 26.8 in), combines abstract expressionism with symbolist accents. At a time when Klee was facing scleroderma and political isolation, his forms became essential, almost hieroglyphic, and his colour contrasts intensified.
The roses of the title emerge as complex geometric figures, dominated by carmine reds and deep greens, arranged in a pyramidal structure evoking an altar. Despite its apparent floral lyricism, the atmosphere is tense, punctuated by broken lines, dense shadows and an absence of perspective. The work is in dialogue with other pieces from the same period, such as “Insula dulcamara”, “Death and Fire” and “Ad Parnassum”, sharing themes of mortality and inner resistance. In “Heroic Roses”, natural beauty takes on existential meanings, becoming a symbol of Klee’s creative struggle against illness and oppression.
Unique quality material
Print on handmade Amalfi paper Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in) With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in) Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges Frame: light brown beech wood and wood pulp, handmade
How an Amalfi art print is made, what the frame is like, what museum glass is, how long shipping takes, and how returns work: we’ve gathered all the answers on a single page.
