Die Kunst gibt nicht das Sichtbare wieder, sondern macht sichtbar.
Paul Klee
I found two – rather different – translations of this quote. Then I tried my hand at it myself. Pick your favourite translation:
Art doesn’t reproduce the visible but rather makes it visible.
Art doesn’t reflect the visible but reveals.
Art does not reflect what is seen, rather it makes the hidden visible.
And for the pure fun of it:
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pictures imperfect blog 
I like the third one as telling an important truth. Which do you go for?
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But it is not as elegant as the German original. The first and the second quote fail the German because of “it” and of “the hidden”. Paul Klee only said that truth reveals (something) but not the something from the first clause. Now you know my translation, of course, I am not 100% happy with it but the first and last translation interpret too much in my opinion.
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The second one for me. It is concise 🙂
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I am happy with all three translations. Maybe the second one is the clearest. Thank you for playing with me. I enjoyed your entry .
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Yeah, that ‘s mine! 🤗
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Yeah, I was always saying you were smart.
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Thanks. #blush#
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I am German living in England and for me your third translation is the best.
We like your blog
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thanks for visiting and liking my blog, I appreciate it. And thanks for your opinion on the translations. I am a translator by profession (English to German, obviously, even though I translate the other direction occasionally but never professionally) and sometimes you have two (or three) alternatives and they all have merit and it’s the most difficult thing to pick one.
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Yes, I know this pretty well. I always learn a lot from how my books are translated into English.
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