out of the blue, into the air

le saut dans le vide (leap into the void), at 5, rue gentil-bernard, fontenay-aux-roses, france, october 1960

untitled anthropometry 1960

creating fire paintings at the center d’essais du gaz de france, saint-denis, february 1961

performance of yves klein’s anthropométries de l’époque bleue (anthropometries of the blue epoch), galerie internationale d’art contemporain, paris, march 9, 1960

the hirshhorn museum in washington d.c. is currently running a retrospective of artist yves klein - yves klein: with the void, full powers. the show includes major examples from every aspect of the artist's career, including his anthropometries, cosmogonies, fire paintings, planetary reliefs, blue monochromes, sponge reliefs, air architecture & immaterial works. "we felt is was essential not only to present klein as the maker of beautiful objects but also as a think, a philosopher who paved the way for future generations," says exhibition co-curator kerry brougher, chief curator and deputy director of the museum. the show runs through september 12.

yves klein

leap into the void, 1960

anthropometry #154, 1961

cosmogonie, 1961

untitled (fire painting), 1961

yves klein

tonight i am inspired by a wonderful friend who has an amazing collection of art & books & friends.

yves klein was born in nice in the south of france in 1928. in 1949 he created "the monotone-silence symphony", a 20 minute sustained chord followed by 2o minutes of silence. in the 50s he explored the ideas of art & void with monochromes covered in his patented IKB (international klein blue). for the anthropometry series he employed female models as "living paintbrushes". "in this way," he said, "i stayed clean. i no longer dirtied myself with color, not even the tips of my fingers." in the 1960s he turned to performance modes of expression to explore the nothingness & immateriality that he believed was central to the creation of self. in 1959 during a show at iris clert gallery, he left the gallery space empty & offered guests IKB colored cocktails. in 1960 he sold gold to art collectors, signed a certificate of authenticity then threw the gold into the seine and burned the paper leaving the new owner with nothing.

he died abruptly in 1962 at the age of 34 of a heart attack. two years earlier he had already staged his "burial" in a work titled here lies space which was a monogold lying flat and decorated as a tombstone with a bunch of white roses and a sponge wreath sponged with IKB. he had himself photographed lying beneath it. a true maverick of the art world.