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This Paul Klee drawing was Walter Benjamin’s favorite — did he understand it?

JL;DR SUMMARY Walter Benjamin's fascination with Paul Klee's drawing "Angelus Novus" is explored in depth, illustrating how this piece became a radical icon in 20th-century philosophy and leftist thought. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Adolf HitlerJewish MysticismArt CriticismWalter BenjaminIntellectual HistoryCultural CriticismPaul KleeAngelus Novus20th Century PhilosophyPolitical Symbolism

Places mentioned

Israel
"Since 1987 it has hung in the national museum of Israel, a country whose creation half of those caretakers applauded and the other half furiously opposed."
Spain
"Later that year, Benjamin was detained by Spanish police and informed that he would be deported to France."
France
"In 1940, a few months before he tried and failed to enter Portugal, he finished his last major essay, Theses on the Philosophy of History."
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
"He bought the drawing in the spring of 1921 at a major show of the artists work organized by the Munich art dealer Hans Goltz; almost straight away, he seems to have decided that it was his prized possession."
Bavaria, Germany
"Klee, whod lived in Munich since 1906, had served in the Bavarian Army, too."
Portugal
"In 1940, a few months before he tried and failed to enter Portugal, he finished his last major essay, Theses on the Philosophy of History."

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Retrieved 2025-01-22 05:31:01 UTC
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