Paul Klee was one of the most important figures in the development of European abstract art in the first quarter of the 20th century.  His imagery, sometimes totally abstract and sometimes full of half-recognizable forms and figures, communicates with the subconscious mind.  It often seems to have an almost child-like simplicity yet it is deeply complex in its associations and allusions.  "Within the will to abstraction something appears that has nothing to do with objective reality.  Free association supplies a key to the fantasy and formal significance of a picture.  Yet this world of illusion is credible.  It is situated in the realm of the human" (The Thinking Eye, p.262).  Klee’s inspiration reflects the ideas of Surrealism, of Dada, of Freudian psychology, but is at the same time totally unique in its character and style.