Yves Klein and the Tangible World

“IN SHORT, EACH COLOR NUANCE IS CLEARLY A PRESENCE, A LIVING BEING, AN ACTIVE FORCE THAT IS BORN AND THAT DIES AFTER LIVING A KIND OF DRAMA IN THE LIFE OF COLORS."

—Yves Klein

A leading figure of the postwar avant-garde, Yves Klein (1928–1962) sought radical ways to represent the immaterial and the infinite. In paintings, sculptures, actions, and events, he conveyed a rigorous, provocative exploration of nature and its forces. In the late 1950s he associated with Düsseldorf’s Group Zero, and in 1960 he became a founding member of the Nouveaux Réalistes.

Klein was born to artist parents in Nice, France. As early as 1947, he declared the blue of the sky to be his first artwork. He made great use of the color throughout his career, considering it “the invisible becoming visible.” In his 20s, Klein traveled to Japan and studied Rosicrucianism and judo. Settling in Paris in 1955, he first exhibited monochrome paintings at the Club des Solitaires. In 1958, he emptied the Galerie Iris Clert and presented the space itself as a work, Le Vide (The Void). Go to Website

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