Paul Klee paintings: Google Doodle honours hugely influential Swiss artist

Hugely influential Swiss modernist artist Paul Klee has been honoured with today's Google Doodle.

Born 139 years ago today, Klee was influenced by cubism, surrealism and expressionism and considered one of the great innovators of his time.

His influence on abstractionism can be seen in the works of artists such as Rothko and Miró, and he is known to have completed thousands of works.

Klee's extraordinary body of work is also popular among calendar and postcard-buyers, yet little is known about him.

Here's what you need to know about the prolific artist.

(Google)

Many of his later works reflected the pain he felt on a constant basis, with the German word for death - "tod" - appearing in many.

He died in Locarno in 1940, without ever being granted Swiss citizenship despite the fact he was born there.

Today's Google Doodle pays homage to his famous painting Rote Brücke (Red Bridge).

Why is Paul Klee being honoured with a Google Doodle?

Klee is a giant of twentieth-centry art, and is thought to be one of the great innovators of his time.

Critics mention him in the same breath as Matisse, Picasso and Kandinsky and his paintings are considered witty, inventive and magical.

Cutting a radical figure in European modernism, the modernist's paintings often resist easy classification but he has traditionally been regarded as a dreamer, who famously described drawing as “taking a line for a walk".

Rigorous in his work, some critics believe him to be one of the most influential figures in the canon of modern art.