Yves KLEIN (1928-1962)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : French sculpture
Chronology : 1959 1960
See also : French sculpture
Chronology : 1959 1960
Intro
In the 1950s Yves Klein collaborated with a chemist to develop a blue that could retain the best brilliance. The result is his patented International Klein Blue better known as IKB, a medium that bonds the ultramarine pigment to synthetic resin.
Deep blue is for Klein the transcendental color evoking the Mediterranean sea of his childhood in Nice and the center of the flame, not to forgot Giotto's frescoes. He aimed with the IKB to reach beyond the limits of the human brain.
Deep blue is for Klein the transcendental color evoking the Mediterranean sea of his childhood in Nice and the center of the flame, not to forgot Giotto's frescoes. He aimed with the IKB to reach beyond the limits of the human brain.
1959 Sculpture Eponges (SE 168)
2013 SOLD for $ 22M by Sotheby's
From 1956 Yves Klein challenges the relationship between the artist and the viewer. His Monochromes can not evoke any kind of figuration. As with Mondrian, the perfectly applied layer is hardly disturbed by an effect from the brush.
Klein was too ahead of his time. Visitors to his early exhibitions acclaimed the colors as if they were in a decorator's shop. The artist is upset by this interpretation. Henceforth all his monochromes must be in intense blue. He patents his pigment, the IKB (Yves Klein Blue).
He is now able to display unreachable or intangible elements like sky and sea. He does not stop at the immaterial in his simulation of the universe. Sponges, fire, monochromes and anthropométries will gradually be the components that will allow him to visualize his metaphysics.
His cosmographic approach is thus a patchwork of series carefully numbered behind a prefix, culminating in the final months of his short life in a sublime synthesis of universe, elements and life. The series of Sculptures Eponges (SE) was developed in 1959. It should not be confused with the Reliefs Eponges (RE).
The sponge is an essential step in his progress. It has the great quality in the process of the artist to immediately imbibe the beautiful IKB. This working tool is now a piece of art in its own right that can evoke figurative themes through its rough texture.
SE 168 is a very early example of the Sculptures Eponges, displayed in the seminal solo exhibition on that theme by Iris Clert in 1959. An accumulation of IKB sponges embellished with voids and cracks form a flower, mounted on a winding metal rod stuck in a stone base to ensure stability. This flower could be compared with a Calder mobile. Its 1.13 m high overall size is exceptional in that series. It was sold for $ 22M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2013, lot 12.
Klein was too ahead of his time. Visitors to his early exhibitions acclaimed the colors as if they were in a decorator's shop. The artist is upset by this interpretation. Henceforth all his monochromes must be in intense blue. He patents his pigment, the IKB (Yves Klein Blue).
He is now able to display unreachable or intangible elements like sky and sea. He does not stop at the immaterial in his simulation of the universe. Sponges, fire, monochromes and anthropométries will gradually be the components that will allow him to visualize his metaphysics.
His cosmographic approach is thus a patchwork of series carefully numbered behind a prefix, culminating in the final months of his short life in a sublime synthesis of universe, elements and life. The series of Sculptures Eponges (SE) was developed in 1959. It should not be confused with the Reliefs Eponges (RE).
The sponge is an essential step in his progress. It has the great quality in the process of the artist to immediately imbibe the beautiful IKB. This working tool is now a piece of art in its own right that can evoke figurative themes through its rough texture.
SE 168 is a very early example of the Sculptures Eponges, displayed in the seminal solo exhibition on that theme by Iris Clert in 1959. An accumulation of IKB sponges embellished with voids and cracks form a flower, mounted on a winding metal rod stuck in a stone base to ensure stability. This flower could be compared with a Calder mobile. Its 1.13 m high overall size is exceptional in that series. It was sold for $ 22M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2013, lot 12.
Relief Eponge
Intro
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.
Fontana did not miss it. He briefly owned a blue sponge relief of 1959, 104 x 105 x 10 cm, which was sold for £ 7.7M by Christie's on June 27, 2012, lot 12. It is shown alongside Le Rose du Bleu, sold in the same auction, in 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.
Fontana did not miss it. He briefly owned a blue sponge relief of 1959, 104 x 105 x 10 cm, which was sold for £ 7.7M by Christie's on June 27, 2012, lot 12. It is shown alongside Le Rose du Bleu, sold in the same auction, in the video prepared by Christie's.
1
1960 Le Rose du Bleu (RE 22)
2012 SOLD for £ 23.5M by Christie's
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.
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.
3
1961 Relief Eponge Bleu (RE 49)
2022 SOLD for $ 20M by Phillips
The opus RE 49 by Klein is an untitled Relief Eponge bleu, dry IKB blue pigment and synthetic resin on a canvas fitted with natural sponges and pebbles laid down on panel, for an overall size of 123 x 100 x 8.9 cm. It was sold for $ 20M from a lower estimate of $ 14M by Phillips on May 18, 2022, lot 15. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This mid size artwork was made in 1961 for presentation to a German avant-garde photographer and was not exhibited at Krefeld.
It was dedicated by the artist on a label quoting the French zen philosopher Bachelard : “d'abord il n'y a rien, ensuite il y a un rien profound, puis une profondeur bleue”. Indeed the balanced arrangement of sponges is inspired from the placement of the stones at the Kyoto Zen gardens.
The mesmerizing IKB and the effects of light immerse the sponges within the composition while the pebble grains fix the interplanetary ether. Blue is the non tangible color if sea and sky.
This mid size artwork was made in 1961 for presentation to a German avant-garde photographer and was not exhibited at Krefeld.
It was dedicated by the artist on a label quoting the French zen philosopher Bachelard : “d'abord il n'y a rien, ensuite il y a un rien profound, puis une profondeur bleue”. Indeed the balanced arrangement of sponges is inspired from the placement of the stones at the Kyoto Zen gardens.
The mesmerizing IKB and the effects of light immerse the sponges within the composition while the pebble grains fix the interplanetary ether. Blue is the non tangible color if sea and sky.
4
1961 Relief Eponge Bleu (RE 28)
2024 SOLD for $ 14.2M by Sotheby's
RE 28 is an untitled Relief Eponge bleu by Yves Klein. This small opus 79 x 128 cm has sponges and pebbles of various sizes, with overlaps on each edge of the panel. It is documented by photographs of the artist in action with his brush on a beach in Malibu CA in June 1961, attended by his future wife Rotraut Uecker.
It is estimated $ 8M for sale by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 5. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
It is estimated $ 8M for sale by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 5. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1960 IKB 1
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.
Anthropométries
Intro
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.
On March 9, 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. The video from that event shows that several applications were needed for each woman to print her painted body on the canvas.
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.
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.
On March 9, 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. The video from that event shows that several applications were needed for each woman to print her painted body on the canvas.
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.
1
1960 Anthropométrie de l'Epoque Bleue (ANT 124)
2022 SOLD for £ 27M by Christie's
A few early anthropométries by Klein have the full title Anthropométrie de l'Epoque Bleue. ANT 124 is one of them. Executed in February 1960 on paper laid down on canvas, it precedes the March 9 happening that received the same title.
ANT 124 is one of the most ambitious by its size, 155 x 317 cm, by the number and position of the imprints, and by the refinement of the colors.
The eight imprints, arguably made by the same woman, form an aerial dance by their various heights on the canvas, made by changing the height of the pedestal. The ultramarine IKB imprints appear in a striking contract over a sky blue background. The effect is indeed reminiscent of La Danse by another master of the colors, Henri Matisse. The ghostly Hiroshima from 1961 also uses IKB over sky blue.
ANT 124 was sold for £ 27M by Christie's on June 28, 2022, lot 31.
ANT 124 is one of the most ambitious by its size, 155 x 317 cm, by the number and position of the imprints, and by the refinement of the colors.
The eight imprints, arguably made by the same woman, form an aerial dance by their various heights on the canvas, made by changing the height of the pedestal. The ultramarine IKB imprints appear in a striking contract over a sky blue background. The effect is indeed reminiscent of La Danse by another master of the colors, Henri Matisse. The ghostly Hiroshima from 1961 also uses IKB over sky blue.
ANT 124 was sold for £ 27M by Christie's on June 28, 2022, lot 31.
2
1960 Barbara (ANT 113)
2019 SOLD for $ 15.6M by Christie's
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.
When the motion of the woman is vertical, the position of chest and stomach is clearly visible. This justifies the term Anthropométries coined for this series. The same name applies to similar works, where the model was wallowing flat on a horizontal surface, in movements carefully guided by the master of ceremony dressed in formal attire.
In the latter case, the result becomes abstract. Christie's sold a good example on May 11, 2010, for $ 12.4M, lot 35 illustrated in the pre sale press release. This large IKB on paper laid down on canvas, 1960 or 1961, 198 x 270 cm, is titled le Buffle (the Buffalo), an allusion to bestiality that might seem offensive to his kind models.
When the motion of the woman is vertical, the position of chest and stomach is clearly visible. This justifies the term Anthropométries coined for this series. The same name applies to similar works, where the model was wallowing flat on a horizontal surface, in movements carefully guided by the master of ceremony dressed in formal attire.
In the latter case, the result becomes abstract. Christie's sold a good example on May 11, 2010, for $ 12.4M, lot 35 illustrated in the pre sale press release. This large IKB on paper laid down on canvas, 1960 or 1961, 198 x 270 cm, is titled le Buffle (the Buffalo), an allusion to bestiality that might seem offensive to his kind models.
1962 MG 9
2008 SOLD for $ 23.6M by Sotheby's
In his continuous engineering of new colors, Klein had tried in 1961 the gold on a burned cardboard mounted on panel. He made the colors varying between gold and brown by changing the distance of the torch, getting spectacular streaks of color. An example 100 x 65 cm was sold for € 370K by Sotheby's on December 10, 2008, lot 15.
A dazzling panel 146 x 114 cm in gold leaf was sold for $ 23.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008, lot 13.
A dazzling panel 146 x 114 cm in gold leaf was sold for $ 23.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008, lot 13.
1962 FC 1
2012 SOLD for $ 36.5M by Christie's
The art of Yves Klein might seem dissimilar. He followed many paths in his short career: monochromes, anthropometries, burned panels, happenings. We now know that these led to a consistent whole, revealed in FC1 (Fire Color 1).
Klein started to use fire in 1961 and his decisive experiments were conducted in March 1962. His artworks combining fire and color are identified with the prefix FC.
The mastering of fire in art by Klein is unprecedented because unlike Burri he does not lead his support up to the final phase of the combustion. The material, a Swedish cardboard of very high density, allows a slow ignition leaving the required time for the artist to control shapes and colors. His very rapid gesture in handling the huge 40 Kg flamethrower freezes the drips.
FC 27, 100 x 137 cm, was sold for £ 5.9M by Christie's on June 30, 2015, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This opus had been an important step in his control of fire before he could incorporate Anthropométries in full length.
FC 1 is the ultimate event. Klein rented a test room of Gaz de France, for security reasons. Three times, two young women pressed their naked bodies on the gold surface of the panel. Covered in Klein blue or pink pigment, they printed their mark in the conventional procedure of the artist. Wet, they protected some areas of the artwork against the future fire attack.
Without ever touching himself the surface, Klein has managed this painting of two nude women, sensual, dreamlike, colorful, the culmination of all his creative process based on the study of the body. The work on panel 141 x 300 x 3 cm, is monumental.
FC 1 was sold for $ 36.5M on May 8, 2012 by Christie's. Please watch the video shared by Christie's, including some elements filmed during the creation of the artwork.
Klein had been a top ranked judoka before being an artist. This sportsman ended the day of the FC 1 in a worrying state of exhaustion, both physically after handling the flamethrower of 40 Kg and psychically for his intense creative effort. It was his swan song. He died of a heart attack on June 6, 1962, aged 34.
Klein started to use fire in 1961 and his decisive experiments were conducted in March 1962. His artworks combining fire and color are identified with the prefix FC.
The mastering of fire in art by Klein is unprecedented because unlike Burri he does not lead his support up to the final phase of the combustion. The material, a Swedish cardboard of very high density, allows a slow ignition leaving the required time for the artist to control shapes and colors. His very rapid gesture in handling the huge 40 Kg flamethrower freezes the drips.
FC 27, 100 x 137 cm, was sold for £ 5.9M by Christie's on June 30, 2015, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This opus had been an important step in his control of fire before he could incorporate Anthropométries in full length.
FC 1 is the ultimate event. Klein rented a test room of Gaz de France, for security reasons. Three times, two young women pressed their naked bodies on the gold surface of the panel. Covered in Klein blue or pink pigment, they printed their mark in the conventional procedure of the artist. Wet, they protected some areas of the artwork against the future fire attack.
Without ever touching himself the surface, Klein has managed this painting of two nude women, sensual, dreamlike, colorful, the culmination of all his creative process based on the study of the body. The work on panel 141 x 300 x 3 cm, is monumental.
FC 1 was sold for $ 36.5M on May 8, 2012 by Christie's. Please watch the video shared by Christie's, including some elements filmed during the creation of the artwork.
Klein had been a top ranked judoka before being an artist. This sportsman ended the day of the FC 1 in a worrying state of exhaustion, both physically after handling the flamethrower of 40 Kg and psychically for his intense creative effort. It was his swan song. He died of a heart attack on June 6, 1962, aged 34.
