Why did Lily Stumpf’s piano teaching matter to Paul Klee’s early career?

Lily Stumpf’s piano teaching was essential to Paul Klee’s early career because it provided the primary financial support for their family while he established himself as an artist.

After Klee and the pianist Lily Stumpf married in 1906 and settled in Munich, Klee struggled to earn a living through his own creative work, such as writing reviews, teaching life-drawing classes, and providing illustrations. Because his early caricatures were often rejected as too idiosyncratic and his public exhibitions saw little success, the income generated by Lily’s piano lessons was crucial in sustaining their household, which grew to include their son, Felix, in 1907.1