Yves Klein - 'IKB' (International Klein Blue)
Yves Klein was born in Nice, France in 1928. Although both his parents were artists, Klein undertook no formal training as an artist instead studying at the Ecole Nationale de la Marine Marchande and the Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales. However, at this time he started to paint. During the years 1948 to 1952, he traveled to Italy, Great Britain, Spain, and Japan before settling permanently in Paris in 1955.
Many of Klein's early works were monochromes, chiefly in one of three colors, gold, red which he called “monopink”, or ultramarine blue. However, by the late 1950's, he attributed a particular role to the color blue. For Klein, blue embodied for him the most abstract aspects of tangible and visible nature, such as sky and the sea. Klein's monochromes became almost exclusively in deep blue hue which he eventually patented as International Klein Blue (IKB), although the color was never produced commercially.
Klein is recognized for his radical experiments with new techniques and new attitudes to art. In the late 1950’s, and early in 1960 Klein created anthropometries in which he wanted to record the body's physical energy. To make these paintings, nude models who Klein called "living brushes" covered themselves in blue paint and placed their bodies on white paper laid out on walls and floor. In his next experiment, in 1961, he began a series of fire paintings using a flame-thrower. These works continued his exploration of air and the immaterial with the addition of fire as an essential new element.
Yves Klein’s work is included in the public collections of the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; the Städel Museum, Frankfurt; the Calderara Foundation Collection, Milan; the Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento; the Alazzo Forti, Verona; Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid; Royal Academy of Arts, London; S.M.A.K (Stedelijk Museum Voor Actuele Kunst), Belgium; Tate Gallery, London; The Menil Collection, Texas; the Walker Art Center, Minnesota.
The artist's work had been the subject of important retrospective exhibitions at: the Museum Haus Lamge in Krefeld, Germany 1962, The Musée national d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1983; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1983 and 2006; the Nice Modern and Contemporary Art Museum, Nice, 2000; the Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Museum of Prato, Italy, 2000. Yves Klein died on June 6, 1962.
Many of Klein's early works were monochromes, chiefly in one of three colors, gold, red which he called “monopink”, or ultramarine blue. However, by the late 1950's, he attributed a particular role to the color blue. For Klein, blue embodied for him the most abstract aspects of tangible and visible nature, such as sky and the sea. Klein's monochromes became almost exclusively in deep blue hue which he eventually patented as International Klein Blue (IKB), although the color was never produced commercially.
Klein is recognized for his radical experiments with new techniques and new attitudes to art. In the late 1950’s, and early in 1960 Klein created anthropometries in which he wanted to record the body's physical energy. To make these paintings, nude models who Klein called "living brushes" covered themselves in blue paint and placed their bodies on white paper laid out on walls and floor. In his next experiment, in 1961, he began a series of fire paintings using a flame-thrower. These works continued his exploration of air and the immaterial with the addition of fire as an essential new element.
Yves Klein’s work is included in the public collections of the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; the Städel Museum, Frankfurt; the Calderara Foundation Collection, Milan; the Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento; the Alazzo Forti, Verona; Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid; Royal Academy of Arts, London; S.M.A.K (Stedelijk Museum Voor Actuele Kunst), Belgium; Tate Gallery, London; The Menil Collection, Texas; the Walker Art Center, Minnesota.
The artist's work had been the subject of important retrospective exhibitions at: the Museum Haus Lamge in Krefeld, Germany 1962, The Musée national d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1983; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1983 and 2006; the Nice Modern and Contemporary Art Museum, Nice, 2000; the Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Museum of Prato, Italy, 2000. Yves Klein died on June 6, 1962.