On March 9, 1960, at the Galerie Internationale d'Art Contemporain in Paris, Yves Klein (1928-1962) presented a live performance before a fascinated, shocked and amazed audience. Accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra performing the Monotone Symphony composed especially for this purpose, three naked “assistants” painted themselves with the intense ultramarine blue patented as “International Klein Blue” (IKB) by Klein and the chemist Edouard Adam four years earlier. Then they pressed their bodies onto a canvas according to the artist’s instructions. It was the culmination of what he called the “anthropometries”, in which he combined performance art and painting in a dynamic live exhibit.
Related: The Colors of Controversy
Klein's "Anthropometries" have their origins in the "Monochromes" with which the artist began to make around 1950. A strong pink, gold and, of course, ultramarine blue are the colors that will be the focus for Klein in the future. Above all, the blue fascinated him and he not only distributed it generously and exclusively on canvases, but also dyed three-dimensional works such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo blue. He discovered the sponge as the perfect instrument for application but also for absorbing color. Klein created sponge sculptures and paintings, whereby the sponges give structure to the two-dimensional monochromes.
At the end of May 1957, his exhibition Yves – Propositions monochrome, which had initially been shown in Paris and Milan, also made a stop in Düsseldorf, where he met members of the ZERO group. In the same year he also received his first public commission, which consisted of creating works of art for the building of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, designed by the architect Werner Ruhnau. The result was four huge blue sponge reliefs for the glass foyer.
Afterwards, Klein looked for other ways to apply the blue paint, which eventually led to the "Human Brushes" and the "Antropometries".
Related: Jean Tinguely: Mechanics of Chance
On June 28, Christie's 20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale will feature Yves Klein's large-scale 1960 work Anthropométrie de l'époque bleue, (ANT 124) as one of the top lots at auction (estimate on request, but rumored to be around $30 million). The work was originally owned by Werner Ruhanu and his wife Anita and is now being offered on the auction market for the first time.
"Yves Klein’s Anthropométrie de l’époque bleue, (ANT 124) brought together the pioneering fields of performance and action painting, resolving for Klein his quest to remove the artist’s hand when applying his signature IKB pigment," said Katharine Arnold, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's Europe. "This pivotal moment in the 20th century art historical canon paved the way for some of the greatest artists of our time, including Marina Abramoviç and Tracey Emin. Klein not only transformed the plastic application of pigment but his esoteric approach captured what it is to be human; to be present, to be impactful, and to leave behind a permanent mark, the trace of one’s body and of one’s life."
Klein's current auction record was set with FC1 (Fire Color 1), which sold for $36.4 million at Christie's in 2012, so a new record is certainly possible.
For more news from the auction market, check out Barnebys Magazine!
