AMONG the many important pictures dating from Paul Klee's prolific years at the Bauhaus, the 1925 oil and watercolour Fish Magic (Fig.27) stands out by its large size, its unusual physical make-up, and by the complexity of its imagery. Though the student of Klee's art will no doubt quickly relate it to a group of works from the mid-twenties in which fish are prominently featured – such as Fish in Circle and Around the Fish – he will also recognise its singular position within that group. Perhaps in no other work from this time does one encounter so wide a range of pictorial elements or so apparently baffling a thematic content. But, although it has on this account become customary to dismiss Fish Magic as a 'dream picture', closer acquaintance with it forces one to attempt to seek a fuller explanation; for there is ample evidence that this masterpiece resulted from careful deliberation.