From the start of the exhibition (Paul Klee: the nature of creation) you can tell that the Hayward is proud of this one. And so they should be, as they have secured both Robert Kudielka (Professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art at Berlin's University of Art) and Bridget Riley (BritArt mistress) to compile the biggest exhibition of Klee's works ever seen in the UK. It would be impossible to describe the variety of paintings, watercolours and drawings on show here, but there are a lot of them, borrowed from across the globe.

The Hayward provides the ideal setting for the works, as its side rooms and cubbyholes neatly split the range into Klee's own definitions. A pioneer and star of early twentieth century art, Klee produced over 10,000 separate pieces, over ninety of which are at the Hayward. These ninety are split into Klee's six types, ranging from "Square Paintings" to "Disrupted Rhythms" and from 1914 until his death in 1940. Keeping this division not only helps the viewer form a structured view of the works, it also makes plain Klee's obsession with rules -- each painting fits into its place and the colours on each piece conform to standards. These rules slide and move across his career, but the basic need for an order behind the abstraction is obvious. Often that order is musical, as anyone looking at the later works will see, but there is also a desire for rules in life, as in the work Der Kinderspiel (a children's game) which imposes the rules of an unknown game upon an otherwise "unrestrained" portrait. Other works show an inner need for religious order, such as Jungwaldtafel (tablet of the young wood), a clear visual reference to the tablets of the Covenant, or the menorah-like shapes that permeate his "musical notation". Klee understands the oppressive nature of rules too: his works are often "bound" to a particular size canvas, oriented like a portrait no matter what the subject. The borders of these works seem to press in on the subject, constricting the exuberance of Klee's mobile lines, making landscapes prison cells. As the sub-title of the exhibition states, Klee is exploring "the nature of creation", and for Klee that clearly meant exploring the rules of the world in a post-Darwinian industrialised country.

Klee's work at the Bauhaus is especially enjoyable as he is clearly at his most playful, although the collapse of order in the final works is probably his best art. The exhibition does what no other collection of Klee has yet done in the UK: it has shown him in his many colours. Like one of his own paintings, Klee's work is the journey of an idea shown as a line. The Hayward visitor can spend a long time pouring through these small, potent works and feel connected with Paul Klee's development as an artist. The Hayward is right to be proud of itself.

'Paul Klee: the nature of creation' is showing until April. Call 020 78960 4249 or go to www.haywardgallery.org.uk for details.

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