In the funhouse mirror of his imagination Klee saw himself as a blockhead with just the corners knocked off. Eyes like cowrie shells squint on either side of a slit-like Michael Jackson nose. The outline isn't continuous. Dot-dash strokes, though quickly made, don't give the impression of imprecision. They are just suggestions to mark the periphery. He is the original pencil-necked geek with doodle hair and beard. Huge, fleshy lips are the only feature that warranted shading. Those lips, relaxed in the vaguest smile, make his face look serene, much less intense than the photographs of him. But this is only an artist proof: run through the press using the clean side of a page ripped from a book. Two columns of letterpress text ghost the image from behind. This choice, more than anything else, gives a glimpse into the man, who didn't take himself too seriously.

Monet's poplars
I straighten my teeth
in autumn

Based on Paul Klee, "Absorption," lithograph self-portrait, 1919.