Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
"2.21. Yesterday the golden wedding anniversary of Their Majesties, we were on duty, with the usual crash. Tonight the entire camp is without light. Went to bed with the chickens. Nothing more consoling in sight.2.21. This week we had three fatal casualties; one man smashed by the propeller, the other two crashed from the air! Yesterday, a fourth came ploughing with a loud bang into the roof of the workshop. Had been flying too low, caught on a telephone pole, bounced on the roof of the factory, turned a somersault, and collapsed upside down in a heap of wreckage. People came running from all sides; in a second the roof was black with mechanics in working clothes. Stretchers, ladders. The photographer. A human being pulled out of the debris and carried away unconscious. Loud cursing at the by-standers. First-rate movie effect. This is how a royal regiment celebrated a royal wedding. In addition, three smashed airplanes are lying about in the vicinity today. It was another fine show."
Entries from the diaries of Swiss-German painter Paul Klee for February 21, 1918. The artist served with the air corps, varnishing the wings and fuselages of airplanes, transporting airplanes to the front, and, at the beginning of 1918, working as assistant paymaster, a position that meant he no longer needed to fear being transferred to the front, and that left him time to read and work. His 1918 watercolor 'Chosen Boy' is one of several works that shows a bird, feet splayed, plunging headfirst to earth.
The Diaries of Paul Klee 1898-1918, Edited, with an Introduction by Felix Klee by Paul Klee, pp. 387–388, copyright © 1964 by the Regents of the University of California, publisher: University of California Press, publication date: 1968
1918-02-21, 1918, February, plane crash, dead, death, pilot, dead German, dead pilot, Chosen Boy
