Promoter of Klee paintings and Klee museum dies

The grandson of nenowned Swiss artist Paul Klee was instrumental in setting up the Bern-based Klee Centre. © Keystone/Georgios Kefalas

Alexander Klee, one of the promoters of the renowned Paul Klee museum in the Swiss capital, Bern, has died aged 80.

Alexander, a grandson of the painter Paul Klee, was himself a painter, graphic designer and press photographer. He had lived in Switzerland and France since the 1970s and also had made a reputation as an art collector.

He died on March 1 according to obituaries in several Swiss newspapers

Alexander Klee helped pave the way for the establishment of the Paul Klee Centre in 2005 which features a significant collection of one of the most famous painters of the 20^th century.

In a press release published on Saturday, the museumExternal link paid tribute to Alexander Klee, also known as Alyosha Ségard, saying he help promote, maintain and research the works of his grandfather, who died in 1940, three months before the birth of Alexander.

The museum by Italian architect Renzo Piano is a wave-shaped steel and glass construction on the outskirts of Bern.