Yves needed the presence of women around him to create his monochromes. The void is not suitable for these young ladies. Back at the workshop they smear their naked body with IKB to leave their marks on papers or canvases. This immaterial representation of the human body pleases Yves who organizes happenings. So began the Anthropométries (ANT).
The artist does not stop at the immaterial, he has to simulate the universe. Sponges, fire, monochromes and anthropometries are the elements that will allow him to visualize his metaphysics.
Body contact with the support may be static or swarming. One or more models can participate. Although the detail of creation is not known, Le Buffle made in 1960-1961 is probably the result of friction by at least two women. This opus ANT 93 was sold for $ 12.4M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2010.
In early 1962 Yves Klein attempted a figurative expression with his reduced models of famous sculptures entirely painted in his very recognizable IKB. He continues also his experiments with the other techniques.
ANT 5 is an Anthropométrie realized in 1962 on a previously carbonized card. The woman is no longer a blue brush. Her body serves as a saving during the IKB spraying. The result is the profile of a nude woman framed in her blue shadow. She is like levitating. The position of the legs shows that she was reclining on the cardboard laid on the floor during the spraying. Some blue dripping has slipped under the thinning of the waist.
This artwork mounted on a 118 x 78 cm wooden panel was sold for £ 4.1M including premium by Christie's on February 11, 2010. It is estimated £ 5.5M for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 26, lot 5.
SOLD for £ 6.8M including premium
Why wait until #ArtBasel? Superstars from our upcoming sales in London are at Sotheby's #Zurich right now! The exhibition in our Talstrasse gallery spans key artists from JMW Turner to Peter Doig via Monet, Picasso, Giacometti, Bacon, Klein and Basquiat. https://t.co/E5eFAeEku4 pic.twitter.com/Ie633fj4wK
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 9, 2018