A Swiss born painter and accomplished violinist who almost chose to study music rather than art.   Fortunately he chose art and attended the Munich Academy in 1900 but his love of music, it's poetic motions and sometime surrealism remained and is reflected in many of his works.   His early works were mainly executed in pen and ink, often combining satirical, grotesque and surreal elements, his humor also being evident in the suggestive titles he gave his works.   He joined The Blue Rider (an Expressionist Group of Abstract painters) co-founded by his friend Wassily Kandinsky bringing to it his own individual style.   Color is the mainstay of his paintings, he would build up a mosaic from colored squares which shone with a brightness and radiance and would often incorporate letters or numerals.   In 1933 Klee came down with and later died from the collagen disease Scleroderma which forced him to adopt a simpler painting style.