Yves Klein was born into a family of artists, in the house of his maternal grandparents. His father, Fritz Klein, was a Dutchman of Indonesian descent, a post-impressionist painter; his mother, Marie Raymond, worked in the style of tachisme. He studied at the Paris Higher School of Merchant Shipping and the Higher School of Oriental Languages. He did not receive any art education; worked most of his life as a judo instructor.
1928 - 1962
Yves Klein
description
An outstanding French artist, sculptor and photographer. Despite his short artistic career (1954-1962), he is rightly considered one of the most significant innovators of post-war European art.
Yves Klein never studied at art institutions but did not want his creations to be perceived as an interior abstraction. As a result, he found original ways of self-expression. One of them is the use of a special blue paint, the formula of which was registered at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle (contrary to the common assertion, a patent was not received). The colour entered the history of world art as the “International Klein Blue”.
In the early 1960s, Klein, together with art historian Pierre Restany, organized a new group called New Realism. The term itself was first proposed by Restany in the introduction to the catalogue. The group included nine innovative artists. They considered themselves direct successors of Dadaists; their first joint exhibition was called “40 ° Above Dada”.
However, Klein almost immediately began to distance himself from the “Dadaist vector” of the group with its retrospective emphasis on the use of finished products and “garbage”. He considered Nouveau Réalisme more promising and innovative; his work was broader in terms of style, technology, and the use of modern media. In addition, his monochromes express a contemporary special status of art, not painting in its traditional sense. Klein was a pioneer in what later became the essence of conceptual art; he is considered the pioneer predecessor of minimal art, as well as pop art and body art.
Key ideas:
– It was not by chance that Yves Klein, who had no art education, chose the motto “For colour!” Against the line and the drawing!” Starting to create monochrome works in 1949, he was disappointed with the attitude to his compositions painted in the same colour as an interior bright abstract painting. The artist abandoned the original monochrome orange, yellow, red, pink paintings, choosing only his unique blue.
– With an extensive series of monochromes, the artist questioned the emotional depths supposedly visible in abstract art. Starting with the “Proposte Monochrome, Epoca Blu” exhibition, organized in 1957 by the Milan Gallery Apollinaire, Klein used ultramarine, mixing it with Rhodopas MA synthetic resin. The effect, discovered thanks to dealer E. Adam, was to preserve the brightness of the pigment.
– In 1960, Klein registered a recipe that included a certain amount of Rhodopas. The colour close to lapis lazuli, which was used in medieval painting, became famous as “International Klein Blue (IKB)”.
– Klein used his colour scheme, working in an international team of artists to design the Gelsenkirchen Opera House in Germany. The artist created four monumental, ten meters high blue works with a relief-sponge and two monochromes for the main hall.
– “Anthropometry” – this is how Klein called his paintings, created as prints of a blue-painted female body on paper or canvas spread out on the floor. His first experiments with the technique of “living brushes” date back to mid-1958.
– Cosmogony was achieved when a specially prepared base was placed under the rain, or when a sheet of blue paint was fixed on the roof of a car for a long trip. Plant paintings were created by spraying pigments onto reeds.
– The artist used fire, bringing large sheets of cardboard closer to the gas burners. Klein created the first fire painting on the closing day of his exhibition in the German city of Krefeld in 1961.
– “The Monogolds” series Klein performed using gold as a symbolic material between 1960 and 1961. Some works combined a series of rectangles into the composition; others were made of loose thin sheets of gold – fixed on the panel, they moved with the slightest air movement; some were reliefs with a polished surface.
– Of the performances, the most famous was “Leap into the Void”, which is displayed in a series of photographs published in a separate issue of the Paris daily newspaper “France Soir”.
1928
1948
1950
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
Yves Klein was born into a family of artists
Visited Italy
Visited Italy (Genoa, Portofino, Pisa, Rome, Capri, Naples), went to Germany for military service for almost one year. Discovered the “Cosmogony of the Rosicrucians” – the book that he always read: Yves studied it daily for about five years, became a member of the Rosicrucian society. A year later, he temporarily moved to London with his friend Pascal, continuing his judo classes. The friends spent six months in Ireland, visiting a riding club.
Created several monochromes on paper using pastel and gouache
Created several monochromes on paper using pastel and gouache; the small Monochrome Manifestation exhibition of the artist’s works was held in London. A year later, he went to Madrid to study Spanish, where he enrolled in a judo club. Important was his friendship with F.F. de Sarabia.
Arrived in Yokohama, then in Tokyo
Arrived in Yokohama, then in Tokyo, where he showed the exposition “Monochrome Manifestation”, and also registered at the prestigious judo center – the Kodokan Institute. He gave French lessons to Japanese and American students. Got a black belt, wrote the book “Fundamentals of Judo”.
Returned to Paris
Returned to Paris; his hopes for joining the French judo federation broke. Visited Madrid at the invitation of F. de Sarabia. Published two collections of his monochromes (preface by P. Claude: black lines instead of text). This was Klein’s first notable public statement about the illusion in art. He left the Rosicrucian society.
«Expression de l’univers de la couleur mine orange»
After his orange monochrome “Expression de l’univers de la couleur mine orange” was rejected by the jury of the Réalités Nouvelles Salon, dedicated to abstract painting, the first public exhibition of his works was held at the private salon of the publishing house “Lacoste” (Club des Solitaires). Klein met Iris Clert, with whom he later worked closely.
«Yves, Propositions Monochromes»
His exhibition “Yves, Propositions Monochromes” was held at the Paris gallery Colette Allendy. At his opening day, the artist met the knight of the Archer Order of St. Sebastian, M. Barillon de Murat, became a holder of the Order, choosing the motto: “For the colour! Against the line and the drawing!”
Exhibited 11 of his blue paintings of the same format at a gallery in Milan
Exhibited 11 of his blue paintings of the same format at a gallery in Milan. One of his blue monochromes was bought by L. Fontana. Later in Paris, he presented a double exhibition: the part “Yves, Propositions monochromes” was shown at the gallery Iris Clert; the second part, “Pigment pur”, was presented at the gallery Colette Allendy. The beginning of his blue period was marked by the launch of the 1001 blue balls into the sky of Paris; he called the action an aerostatic sculpture. The exhibition of his monochromes was shown at Gallery One (London) and caused a scandal during a debate at the Institute of Contemporary Art. His vernissage was also held at the Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf.
He designed an opera house in Germany
He designed an opera house in Germany. Made two pilgrimages to the monastery of St. Rita in Cascia (Italy), presented his blue monochrome to it. Participated in experimental blue backlighting of the Obelisk at Place de la Concorde (the final permission was not given to him). The Iris Clert Gallery hosted the opening of the legendary exhibition Le Vide (Vacuum). The joint exhibition of Klein and J. Tengley “Pure speed and monochrome stability” was also held there. He began the first experiments with anthropometries.
Participated in the Vision in Motion show
Participated in the Vision in Motion show (Hessenhuis, Antwerp), exhibited his works at the first Paris Biennale, two exhibitions in Germany and “The Works in Three Dimensions exhibition” (L. Castelli Gallery, New York). He worked on aeromagnetic sculptures and the design of a fountain of water and fire with architect C. Parent. The Iris Clert Gallery organized the exhibition “Collaboration internationale…” and the sponge bas-relief exhibition “Bas-reliefs dans une forêt d’éponges”. He conducted a lecture entitled “The Evolution of Art to the Intangible” at the Sorbonne.
Participated in group exhibitions in Milan
Participated in group exhibitions in Milan: “La nouvelle conception artistique” (Azimut Gallery), “Les Nouveaux Réalistes” (Apollinaire Gallery); “The Monogold frémissant show” was organized by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. There was a public demonstration of his anthropometries in Paris (three nude models covered themselves with blue paint under the “Monotone Symphony”, left white prints on their bodies). Registered the formula of International Klein Blue. In the house of Klein, the declaration of the New Realism group was signed. His first exhibition was called “40 ° Above Dada”. He created the first Cosmogonies, performed “Le Saut dans le vide” and published its picture during the Avant-garde Art Festival in Paris.
The exhibition “Le Monochrome” at the L. Castelli Gallery (New York) ended in failure
The exhibition “Le Monochrome” at the L. Castelli Gallery (New York) ended in failure; his largest lifetime exhibition, “Yves Klein: Monochromes and Fire”, was held at the Haus Lange Museum in Krefeld, Germany. On its last day, Klein created his first fire painting; later he created monumental works of the same plan at the research center of the French gas company near Paris. The first festival of New Realism was held at the Muratore Gallery in Nice and the Roseland Abbey; his solo exhibition ”Monochrome: Il nuovo realismo del colore” was held at the Apollinaire Gallery in Milan.
Married artist Rotraut Moquay
Married artist Rotraut Moquay (their son Yves was born after the death of the master), attended the show “Mondo Cane” at the Cannes Film Festival (anthropometry sessions previously filmed in Paris). The way in which the film and he himself were presented caused the artist’s first heart attack. On the opening day of the exhibition “Donner à voir” at the Paris Creuze gallery, he suffered a second heart attack. After Klein’s death, a retrospective exhibition of his works took place in Tokyo.