1960
See also : French sculpture Klein Rothko Rothko 1957-70 Bacon < 1963 Old Flanders and Belgium Magritte Jewels Pink diamond
1960 Rothko from Decoration to Meditation
2019 SOLD for $ 50M including premium
In 1958 Mark Rothko accepted the contract with the Seagram company for a series of murals to decorate the new Four Seasons restaurant. The dark colors chosen by the artist are paradoxically expressing some disgust of the luxury atmosphere for which he performs this work.
In the following year, while the paintings were nearly completed, Rothko abruptly breaks the contract and returns to Seagram the money that had been paid in advance. He did not give a clear explanation of this decision. The artist was indeed known as temperamental, but we may especially question why he had accepted this contract that went against his social ideas.
The sequence that led to this anger, however, has a plausible hypothesis. Between acceptance and rejection of the contract, Rothko made a tour of Europe. While admiring Michelangelo in Florence, he understands the major role of the place where an artwork is exhibited. He has a too great opinion of his own art to become a mere restaurant decorator.
On May 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a 175 x 127 cm oil on canvas painted in 1960, lot 12 estimated $ 35M.
This composition is a hybrid between the dialogue of dark colors, here a burgundy rectangle and a maroon rectangle, and a creamy white rectangle at the bottom of the image. Such an extreme opposition is rare in Rothko's art. It can be compared to a Dark over Light painted in 1954, sold for $ 30.7M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2018, for which the rational explanation was the simulation of a window of light to snap the viewer up to this work.
In 1962 John and Dominique de Menil discover the expressive power of the dark hues of Rothko's Seagram style. From 1965 they sponsor a place of meditation that is much better suited to the artist than a luxury restaurant and which will become the Rothko Chapel.
Please watch the two videos shared by Sotheby's, in the categories First Look and Expert Voices.
In the following year, while the paintings were nearly completed, Rothko abruptly breaks the contract and returns to Seagram the money that had been paid in advance. He did not give a clear explanation of this decision. The artist was indeed known as temperamental, but we may especially question why he had accepted this contract that went against his social ideas.
The sequence that led to this anger, however, has a plausible hypothesis. Between acceptance and rejection of the contract, Rothko made a tour of Europe. While admiring Michelangelo in Florence, he understands the major role of the place where an artwork is exhibited. He has a too great opinion of his own art to become a mere restaurant decorator.
On May 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a 175 x 127 cm oil on canvas painted in 1960, lot 12 estimated $ 35M.
This composition is a hybrid between the dialogue of dark colors, here a burgundy rectangle and a maroon rectangle, and a creamy white rectangle at the bottom of the image. Such an extreme opposition is rare in Rothko's art. It can be compared to a Dark over Light painted in 1954, sold for $ 30.7M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2018, for which the rational explanation was the simulation of a window of light to snap the viewer up to this work.
In 1962 John and Dominique de Menil discover the expressive power of the dark hues of Rothko's Seagram style. From 1965 they sponsor a place of meditation that is much better suited to the artist than a luxury restaurant and which will become the Rothko Chapel.
Please watch the two videos shared by Sotheby's, in the categories First Look and Expert Voices.
1960 The Papal Obsession of Francis Bacon
2014 SOLD for $ 45M including premium
The arrival of the papal figures in the art of Francis Bacon goes back to his early period of which almost nothing remains since he destroyed his works. Starting just after the Second World War, this theme is political : a pope is also a man, and the luxury inherent in his position cannot hide a psychological distress.
The model is famous : the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez. As a precaution, Bacon would not see the original artwork for not altering his creative impetus. For over fifteen years, he executed about fifty paintings on this theme. The earliest were screaming their incompetence at offering a better world.
Around 1960, Bacon's popes become silent, as tragic as the screaming characters. The colors are brushed in powerful gestures that make the face unreadable and unidentifiable. He will proceed in the same way for some portraits of his friends in Soho. The throne becomes neutral but the atmosphere in red and crimson maintains the original message of political absurdity.
A Seated figure, oil on canvas 153 x 119 cm painted in 1960, is estimated $ 40 million for sale by Christie's in New York on November 12, lot 45.
On May 15, 2007, Sotheby's sold for $ 53M including premium a Study from Innocent X painted in 1962, 198 x 142 cm. It was at that time the highest price recorded at auction for any artwork by Bacon. The attitude of the character curled on his throne is altogether burlesque and tragic.
The model is famous : the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez. As a precaution, Bacon would not see the original artwork for not altering his creative impetus. For over fifteen years, he executed about fifty paintings on this theme. The earliest were screaming their incompetence at offering a better world.
Around 1960, Bacon's popes become silent, as tragic as the screaming characters. The colors are brushed in powerful gestures that make the face unreadable and unidentifiable. He will proceed in the same way for some portraits of his friends in Soho. The throne becomes neutral but the atmosphere in red and crimson maintains the original message of political absurdity.
A Seated figure, oil on canvas 153 x 119 cm painted in 1960, is estimated $ 40 million for sale by Christie's in New York on November 12, lot 45.
On May 15, 2007, Sotheby's sold for $ 53M including premium a Study from Innocent X painted in 1962, 198 x 142 cm. It was at that time the highest price recorded at auction for any artwork by Bacon. The attitude of the character curled on his throne is altogether burlesque and tragic.
(previous purchase 1960) The Mystery of the Little Prince
2013 SOLD 39.3 M$ including premium
On April 16 in New York, Christie's sells a cushion-cut pink diamond weighing 34.65 carats. It is identified as historic, which mostly means that some ancient information is available. Here is the link to the catalog.
This diamond has not been seen publicly since 1960. It was then bought £ 46K at auction by Van Cleef & Arpels, who named it the Princie Diamond by friendship with the young prince of Baroda.
I found on the web a page made before the recent resurgence of the Princie Diamond, in which it is fifth in a list of the most famous pink diamonds, but with a wrong color shade.
Its true color, fancy intense pink, is a pleasant surprise, because this is one of the best and rarest colors. The 24.78 carats Graff Pink, sold CHF 45.4 million including premium (U.S. $ 1.85 million per carat) by Sotheby's on November 16, 2010 is also a fancy intense pink.
The provenance of the Princie was not revealed in 1960. The press release from Christie's tells that the seller was the Nizam of Hyderabad himself, which supports the hypothesis that this diamond had been extracted from Golconda.
Unfortunately, its VS2 clarity is not excellent. The Graff Pink, VVS2, is better by two grades.
On 6 October 2010, Sotheby's sold HK $ 60M including premium a VS2 fancy vivid pink weighing 6.43 carats, which approximately corresponds to U.S. $ 1.15 million per carat.
POST SALE COMMENT
The market is sometimes of a surprising regularity. I gave here above an example at $ 1.15 million per carat for a diamond of same color and same clarity.
The Princie was sold $ 1.135 million per carat including premium. Its exceptional size has generated an extraordinary price: $ 39.3 million including premium.
This diamond has not been seen publicly since 1960. It was then bought £ 46K at auction by Van Cleef & Arpels, who named it the Princie Diamond by friendship with the young prince of Baroda.
I found on the web a page made before the recent resurgence of the Princie Diamond, in which it is fifth in a list of the most famous pink diamonds, but with a wrong color shade.
Its true color, fancy intense pink, is a pleasant surprise, because this is one of the best and rarest colors. The 24.78 carats Graff Pink, sold CHF 45.4 million including premium (U.S. $ 1.85 million per carat) by Sotheby's on November 16, 2010 is also a fancy intense pink.
The provenance of the Princie was not revealed in 1960. The press release from Christie's tells that the seller was the Nizam of Hyderabad himself, which supports the hypothesis that this diamond had been extracted from Golconda.
Unfortunately, its VS2 clarity is not excellent. The Graff Pink, VVS2, is better by two grades.
On 6 October 2010, Sotheby's sold HK $ 60M including premium a VS2 fancy vivid pink weighing 6.43 carats, which approximately corresponds to U.S. $ 1.15 million per carat.
POST SALE COMMENT
The market is sometimes of a surprising regularity. I gave here above an example at $ 1.15 million per carat for a diamond of same color and same clarity.
The Princie was sold $ 1.135 million per carat including premium. Its exceptional size has generated an extraordinary price: $ 39.3 million including premium.
1960 Relief Eponge by KLEIN
1
1960 Le Rose du Bleu (RE 22)
2012 SOLD for £ 23.5M by Christie's
Yves Klein was spreading his color on canvas. Suddenly, like Kandinsky discovering by chance (according to legend) that he had just invented abstract art, Klein is rising to the rank of a basic artistic figure a sponge soaked with paint which he just used.
Thus began around 1959 the series of RE (Reliefs Eponges) : transforming his panels into sculpture, the artist stages sponges and pebbles on a flat surface in a composition that remains beautifully monochrome.
In that RE series, Klein proposes a cosmic meaning. A sponge is shaped like an asteroid which was not altered by an atmosphere.
His monochromes are the elements of a trinity. His colors were the IKB, the madder pink and the gold. More appealing than the three classical primary colors, these colors express separately the properties of the universe before being mixed by the action of water and fire.
He then creates a new world full of these strange figures pushing him in the following of the mineral landscapes of Tanguy. But Tanguy died in 1955, and the space conquest had meanwhile generated its imaginary craters and lifeless rocks.
In 1961 in Krefeld, an exhibition demonstrates the clash of colors of Klein's trinity by attributing a different room to each color. Two artworks made in 1960 are particularly highlighted. Both were made in dry synthetic resin, natural sponges and pebbles on board.
The blue room is dominated by Archisponge, 200 x 165 cm, which was sold by Sotheby's in 2008.
On June 27, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 23.5M the masterpiece of the pink room, 199 x 153 x 16 cm, lot 9. Its mysterious title, Le Rose du Bleu, does not doubt the purity of the madder pigment but reveals that the artist attempts a unified vision of his Pink with the immaterial symbol of his basic Blue.
Please watch the video prepared by Christie's.
Thus began around 1959 the series of RE (Reliefs Eponges) : transforming his panels into sculpture, the artist stages sponges and pebbles on a flat surface in a composition that remains beautifully monochrome.
In that RE series, Klein proposes a cosmic meaning. A sponge is shaped like an asteroid which was not altered by an atmosphere.
His monochromes are the elements of a trinity. His colors were the IKB, the madder pink and the gold. More appealing than the three classical primary colors, these colors express separately the properties of the universe before being mixed by the action of water and fire.
He then creates a new world full of these strange figures pushing him in the following of the mineral landscapes of Tanguy. But Tanguy died in 1955, and the space conquest had meanwhile generated its imaginary craters and lifeless rocks.
In 1961 in Krefeld, an exhibition demonstrates the clash of colors of Klein's trinity by attributing a different room to each color. Two artworks made in 1960 are particularly highlighted. Both were made in dry synthetic resin, natural sponges and pebbles on board.
The blue room is dominated by Archisponge, 200 x 165 cm, which was sold by Sotheby's in 2008.
On June 27, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 23.5M the masterpiece of the pink room, 199 x 153 x 16 cm, lot 9. Its mysterious title, Le Rose du Bleu, does not doubt the purity of the madder pigment but reveals that the artist attempts a unified vision of his Pink with the immaterial symbol of his basic Blue.
Please watch the video prepared by Christie's.
2
1960 Archisponge (RE 11)
2008 SOLD for $ 21.4M by Sotheby's
Archisponge was sold for $ 21.4M on November 11, 2008 by Sotheby's, lot 12.
This artwork on panel 200 x 165 cm executed in 1960 in IKB, sponges and pebbles had been the masterpiece of the blue room in the 1961 Krefeld exhibition. That central room was flanked by the pink and gold rooms. Le Rose du bleu, of same size and technique as the Archisponge, was the flagship the pink room.
The artist had of course be the designer of that arrangement. Nevertheless his proposal for a performance of his own Symphonie Monotone Silence during the opening day was not retained.
This artwork on panel 200 x 165 cm executed in 1960 in IKB, sponges and pebbles had been the masterpiece of the blue room in the 1961 Krefeld exhibition. That central room was flanked by the pink and gold rooms. Le Rose du bleu, of same size and technique as the Archisponge, was the flagship the pink room.
The artist had of course be the designer of that arrangement. Nevertheless his proposal for a performance of his own Symphonie Monotone Silence during the opening day was not retained.
1960-1966 The Flag of Modern Art
2010 SOLD 28.6 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Listen to what Christie's said in a press release issued on March 2:
"Jasper Johns' Flag paintings are credited as the first icons of Pop Art, ending the supremacy of the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning, and opening the gates to the everyday consumer images of Warhol and Lichtenstein."
In this year 2010 when the price of iconic lots of all categories has no limitations, this statement may seem prophetic.
Leo Castelli, who was the dealer for Johns, had kept a Flag of 1958. His son just sold it to Steven Cohen in a private sale for a price that could be about $ 110 million. This information was published and illustrated yesterday in The New York Times.
Christie's release announced a Flag painted between 1960 and 1966, for sale on May 11 in New York. Measuring 43 x 66 cm, it is twice smaller than the Castelli-Cohen's. Do not talk price today for this lot: let the market find its breath ... or not!
The technique of encaustic and newspaper on canvas creates a unique texture to these works, such as to fascinate the observer as much as a Rothko can do.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sale of the collection of Michael Crichton had been well publicized. This has helped the Flag, which was estimated $ 10 million, to reach $ 28.6 million including premium.
It was neither one of the first nor of the largest in the series, and its exact date has not been identified. In these circumstances, I conclude that the result is excellent.
Listen to what Christie's said in a press release issued on March 2:
"Jasper Johns' Flag paintings are credited as the first icons of Pop Art, ending the supremacy of the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning, and opening the gates to the everyday consumer images of Warhol and Lichtenstein."
In this year 2010 when the price of iconic lots of all categories has no limitations, this statement may seem prophetic.
Leo Castelli, who was the dealer for Johns, had kept a Flag of 1958. His son just sold it to Steven Cohen in a private sale for a price that could be about $ 110 million. This information was published and illustrated yesterday in The New York Times.
Christie's release announced a Flag painted between 1960 and 1966, for sale on May 11 in New York. Measuring 43 x 66 cm, it is twice smaller than the Castelli-Cohen's. Do not talk price today for this lot: let the market find its breath ... or not!
The technique of encaustic and newspaper on canvas creates a unique texture to these works, such as to fascinate the observer as much as a Rothko can do.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sale of the collection of Michael Crichton had been well publicized. This has helped the Flag, which was estimated $ 10 million, to reach $ 28.6 million including premium.
It was neither one of the first nor of the largest in the series, and its exact date has not been identified. In these circumstances, I conclude that the result is excellent.
1960 Steeplechase by Kline
2015 SOLD for $ 21.4M by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1960 Projection in Black and White
2017 SOLD for $ 20M including premium
Modern life creates new shapes that excite the formal research of the photographers. Franz Kline is close to them but he is a draftsman and a painter. He takes many sketches of the industrial structures of New York City and of his native Pennsylvania : beams of bridges, pylons, derricks.
At first this leads to nothing. Elaine de Kooning narrated the click. In 1948 Willem projects on a wall the image of a chair made by Franz. With the poor episcope of that time the geometry is jostled and the lines are bogged down. Franz is thrilled by this abstract projection of his ordinary figurative drawing.
Franz is neither a theoretician nor a surrealist. The lines of his projection compose a two-dimensional space to which an apparent impulse brings a three-dimensional illusion. Franz's painstaking work should not have been equated with the spontaneity of the Action painting of which he is often considered a leader. The rhythm of jazz is a fantasy that sometimes fits into his own style. On the other hand the jagged edges of his stripes bring him closer to Still and Rothko.
His paintings become monumental. An Untitled 200 x 280 cm painted in 1957 was sold for $ 40.4M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012.
On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 21 B Light Mechanic, oil on canvas 234 x 172 cm painted in 1960. The worn beams in deep black of his abstract mechanics are underlined by a subtle light gray projection that could have to be generated by the old episcope on another screen further away.
At first this leads to nothing. Elaine de Kooning narrated the click. In 1948 Willem projects on a wall the image of a chair made by Franz. With the poor episcope of that time the geometry is jostled and the lines are bogged down. Franz is thrilled by this abstract projection of his ordinary figurative drawing.
Franz is neither a theoretician nor a surrealist. The lines of his projection compose a two-dimensional space to which an apparent impulse brings a three-dimensional illusion. Franz's painstaking work should not have been equated with the spontaneity of the Action painting of which he is often considered a leader. The rhythm of jazz is a fantasy that sometimes fits into his own style. On the other hand the jagged edges of his stripes bring him closer to Still and Rothko.
His paintings become monumental. An Untitled 200 x 280 cm painted in 1957 was sold for $ 40.4M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012.
On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 21 B Light Mechanic, oil on canvas 234 x 172 cm painted in 1960. The worn beams in deep black of his abstract mechanics are underlined by a subtle light gray projection that could have to be generated by the old episcope on another screen further away.
1960 The Mystery of the Opposites
2017 SOLD for £ 14.4M including premium
In his deeply original way René Magritte is the less hermetic of the surrealists. His art is nothing more than lines and colors. His exegetes are far more complicated than himself. His themes disconcert by the incongruous mingling of the opposites : day and night, flesh and rock, animal and vegetable, or an object that floats freely in the sky.
In 1960, Magritte is looking for new themes involving the four primordial substances : water, air, earth, fire. The cloud, which is altogether immaterial and opaque, perpetually malleable, is a major figure of his Olympus.
On February 28 in London, Christie's sells La Corde sensible, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm which is a large size for this artist, lot 110 estimated £ 14M. Let us remind that the title of a work by Magritte is always a result of chance without a meaningful connection with the image.
The well-centered cloud is at its normal position in the sky above a landscape. It appears as laying and slightly entering into a monumental crystal coupe.
The mystery is multiple : Is the glass empty or full ? Is the cloud the cream of a cocktail ? What Gulliver will approach his lips onto this impossible vapor ? What is the true distance to the glass ? What is the reality of the landscape? What is the reality of our own world ? By its absence of animal or human being, La Corde sensible provides no mark.
In 1960, Magritte is looking for new themes involving the four primordial substances : water, air, earth, fire. The cloud, which is altogether immaterial and opaque, perpetually malleable, is a major figure of his Olympus.
On February 28 in London, Christie's sells La Corde sensible, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm which is a large size for this artist, lot 110 estimated £ 14M. Let us remind that the title of a work by Magritte is always a result of chance without a meaningful connection with the image.
The well-centered cloud is at its normal position in the sky above a landscape. It appears as laying and slightly entering into a monumental crystal coupe.
The mystery is multiple : Is the glass empty or full ? Is the cloud the cream of a cocktail ? What Gulliver will approach his lips onto this impossible vapor ? What is the true distance to the glass ? What is the reality of the landscape? What is the reality of our own world ? By its absence of animal or human being, La Corde sensible provides no mark.
1960 IKB 1 by Yves Klein
2008 SOLD for $ 17.4M by Sotheby's
IKB 1, Klein blue dry pigment and synthetic resin on canvas laid down on plywood 144 x 114 cm executed in 1960, was sold for $ 17.4M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008 from a lower estimate of $ 5M, lot 14.
It had been first displayed at the solo exhibition subtitled Monochrome und Feuer in Krefeld in January and February 1961, certainly in the same room as the Archisponge.
The Relief Eponge Or RE 47 II was not in that seminal Krefeld but was executed in the sale year, 1961. This small gold with sponges and pebbles on panel 45 x 80 x 7.5 cm was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on February 11, 2010, lot 16. It is the larger of only two gold sponge panels by Klein.
It had been first displayed at the solo exhibition subtitled Monochrome und Feuer in Krefeld in January and February 1961, certainly in the same room as the Archisponge.
The Relief Eponge Or RE 47 II was not in that seminal Krefeld but was executed in the sale year, 1961. This small gold with sponges and pebbles on panel 45 x 80 x 7.5 cm was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on February 11, 2010, lot 16. It is the larger of only two gold sponge panels by Klein.
1960 Barbara by Yves Klein
2019 SOLD for $ 15.6M by Christie's
Yves Klein was a judoka, passionate about the relationship between human being and human body. The realization of his monochrome paintings is also linked to his desire for managing happenings. To find inspiration when he painted a work, he had young nude women twirling around him.
He is also the first artist of the void. He reaches his ultimate goal in 1959 with his empty room painted in white in Iris Clert's gallery. He had created a work of art beyond the visible.
Yves Klein is passionate about his patented IKB saturated blue which is one of his privileged accesses to the metaphysical universe. The risk from strictly monochrome works is to exclude the human beings. In 1958 at a private party, he commissioned a naked woman to coat herself in IKB and to jiggle on a canvas placed on the ground for creating a full monochrome without using a brush.
In the following year Klein watched Arman who was throwing previously inked objects on a white surface. Yves Klein again imagines replacing these objects with naked women. The process tested in 1958 is not sufficient. A private ritual invoking vital energy will motivate the performers as well as the attendants.
The first event takes place on February 23, 1960 in Klein's studio in Montparnasse. He coats with IKB his first living paintbrush, his collaborator Rotraut Uecker whom he will marry two years later. Restany, who is present, enthusiastically states : "These are the anthropométries of the blue period". Klein is delighted with this designation.
The artist perseveres. On February 27 at the same location, a photographer is invited to report. Executed on that day by Elena, a young woman who had worked au pair for Arman, the work cataloged under the reference ANT 132 is visible on the wall in several photos.
ANT 132 is made up of two well separated imprints, shifted from one another for providing an illusion of taking flight, anticipating the October 1960 selfie photomontage of the Leap into the void. This IKB on paper laid down on canvas 150 x 96 cm was sold for £ 6.3M by Sotheby's on February 11, 2020, lot 21.
In March, Klein applies a similar process in a gallery of the rue Saint-Honoré. In this happening for a public of guests, he appears in a tuxedo with a role of master of ceremonies and of musical conductor.
These new paintings are executed without a touching of the surface by the artist, like Manzoni with the Achromes. The role of the artist is to conceive and direct the creation. The later technique with a flamethrower applies a similar conception.
To realize an Anthropométrie, only the trunk and thighs are coated so that the use of a woman as a brush is not related to conscious thought. The blue shades which are left by them are an immaterial intermediary between bodily and spiritual. Klein manages to explain that his approach is not erotic despite the nudity of the models. He sees in it the expression of a primordial force freed from thought.
The first Anthropométries include multiple impressions. Barbara, referenced ANT 113, is the result of three IKB body impressions superimposed to give the illusion of a levitation. This 200 x 145 cm artwork made in 1960 was sold for $ 15.6M by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 15 B.
He is also the first artist of the void. He reaches his ultimate goal in 1959 with his empty room painted in white in Iris Clert's gallery. He had created a work of art beyond the visible.
Yves Klein is passionate about his patented IKB saturated blue which is one of his privileged accesses to the metaphysical universe. The risk from strictly monochrome works is to exclude the human beings. In 1958 at a private party, he commissioned a naked woman to coat herself in IKB and to jiggle on a canvas placed on the ground for creating a full monochrome without using a brush.
In the following year Klein watched Arman who was throwing previously inked objects on a white surface. Yves Klein again imagines replacing these objects with naked women. The process tested in 1958 is not sufficient. A private ritual invoking vital energy will motivate the performers as well as the attendants.
The first event takes place on February 23, 1960 in Klein's studio in Montparnasse. He coats with IKB his first living paintbrush, his collaborator Rotraut Uecker whom he will marry two years later. Restany, who is present, enthusiastically states : "These are the anthropométries of the blue period". Klein is delighted with this designation.
The artist perseveres. On February 27 at the same location, a photographer is invited to report. Executed on that day by Elena, a young woman who had worked au pair for Arman, the work cataloged under the reference ANT 132 is visible on the wall in several photos.
ANT 132 is made up of two well separated imprints, shifted from one another for providing an illusion of taking flight, anticipating the October 1960 selfie photomontage of the Leap into the void. This IKB on paper laid down on canvas 150 x 96 cm was sold for £ 6.3M by Sotheby's on February 11, 2020, lot 21.
In March, Klein applies a similar process in a gallery of the rue Saint-Honoré. In this happening for a public of guests, he appears in a tuxedo with a role of master of ceremonies and of musical conductor.
These new paintings are executed without a touching of the surface by the artist, like Manzoni with the Achromes. The role of the artist is to conceive and direct the creation. The later technique with a flamethrower applies a similar conception.
To realize an Anthropométrie, only the trunk and thighs are coated so that the use of a woman as a brush is not related to conscious thought. The blue shades which are left by them are an immaterial intermediary between bodily and spiritual. Klein manages to explain that his approach is not erotic despite the nudity of the models. He sees in it the expression of a primordial force freed from thought.
The first Anthropométries include multiple impressions. Barbara, referenced ANT 113, is the result of three IKB body impressions superimposed to give the illusion of a levitation. This 200 x 145 cm artwork made in 1960 was sold for $ 15.6M by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 15 B.
