at Sean Kelly TEFAF New York 2025, Stand 330
Yves Klein - TEFAF
Yves Klein
Head-Image
Yves Klein’s (1928 – 1962) artistic career was remarkably brief—lasting roughly seven years from 1955 to 1962 —yet his impact on the trajectory of postwar art was profound and enduring. A bold provocateur, mystic, and visionary, Klein challenged the boundaries of painting, performance, and authorship with an ambition that continues to resonate across contemporary practice.
In recognition of his lasting contributions, Sean Kelly Gallery is pleased to present a selection of three works on the occassion of TEFAF New York that illuminate key aspects of Klein’s oeuvre: the iconic Monochrome, 1959; the mythic photograph Leap Into the Void, October 27, 1960; and his sculptural reinterpretation La Victoire de Samothrace, 1961–62.
Disparate in form, these works reflect Klein’s sustained engagement with the immaterial and his aspiration to elevate art beyond the confines of traditional media and materiality. Whether through the meditative depth of International Klein Blue, the artist’s patented ultramarine pigment, the staged illusion of flight, or the appropriation of classical form, each piece reflects Klein’s radical rethinking of what art could be and its function in the world. This focused presentation offers a glimpse into the restless, genre-defying imagination of an artist who not only redefined the terms of aesthetic experience, but who, in many ways, advanced the conceptual and performative impulses that continue to shape contemporary art today.
"Monochromy is the only physical way of painting that enables access to a spiritual absolute."
- Yves Klein
Yves Klein and Adam Montmartre, et al. International Klein Blue (Yves Klein Blue). dry pigment, special base and alcohol. Display 55, JSTOR
Monochrome bleu sans titre (IKB 318), 1959
Yves Klein has been assigned many labels—experimental visionary, daring trickster, mystical idealist—but he should be best understood, above all, as an agent of history, both its echo and its disruption. His iconic International Klein Blue is the most powerful example of this duality. Ultramarine blue holds an iconic status in art history, for its rich, luminous quality, and for its rarity and symbolic weight. Originally derived from ground lapis lazuli, ultramarine was once more valuable than gold, reserved by painters for their most sacred subjects, most notably the robes of the Virgin Mary.
By patenting and claiming authorship over both the monochrome and his specific formulation of ultramarine, Klein became the first artist to proclaim that a color itself could be owned—an idea later echoed by other artists. Regardless of its trademark, International Klein Blue remains impossible to replicate. It is not merely a pigment, but a carefully engineered paint system: a blend of synthetic and natural ultramarine, resin, and solvent that produces a uniquely chalky, matte surface. This finish radiates a sensation of pure energy.
Note on I.K.B (International Klein Blue) by Yves Klein, c. 1959. Document © The Estate of Yves Klein c/o Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Klein denied the influence of earlier avant-gardists who explored the monochrome—be it Kazimir Malevich or Aleksandr Rodchenko — yet the intensity of his denials, coupled with the fact that both of his parents were painters, suggests a keen awareness of historic precedent. Unlike his forerunners, Klein’s monochrome paintings were neither a pure embodiment of spirituality, nor a proclamation of the end of painting. Instead, they offer a visionary’s glimpse into a future that Klein did not just anticipate, but actively shaped—where the boundaries between performance, object, and ideology dissolve. Monochrome bleu sans titre, 1959, is a striking example of this vision: beguiling in its mystery, simplicity, and talismanic scale, the work is both a meditation on immateriality and a tangible artifact from an artist who redefined what art could be.
Select Institutions with IKB Monochromes in their permanent collections:
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), CA
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
amongst others
Yves Klein (French, b. Nice 1928 - d. Paris 1962)
Monochrome bleu sans titre (IKB 318), 1959
blue pigment and synthetic resin on paper
artwork: 8 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches (21.5 x 18 cm)
framed: 18 1/16 x 15 5/8 x 1 11/16 inches (45.9 x 39.7 x 4.3 cm)
accompanied by a certificate by Rotraud Klein Moquay,
Archives Yves Klein, dated January 15, 2019, Paris
(YKB-16)
Provenance:
Pol Burv.
Gian Enzo Sperone.
Private Collection, New York (purchased from Galerie Zlotowski 2019).
Le Dimanche 27 Novembre 1960: Le journal d’un seul jour, 1960
halftone and letterpress on newsprint, the full sheet folded (as issued)
unfolded: 22 x 29 3/4 inches (55.9 x 75.6 cm)
framed: 26 3/4 x 21 1/4 x 1 inches (67.9 x 54 x 2.5 cm)
(YKB-19)
Leap Into the Void, October 27, 1960
Yves Klein’s iconic photograph Leap Into the Void captures his fascination with nothingness and the abstract concept of space (here enacted through a literal leap into emptiness) as well as his exploration of photography’s inherent malleability: its capacity to manipulate truth while maintaining the appearance of fact. Enacting this image, Klein not only dramatized his metaphysical preoccupations but also questioned the viewer’s faith in the photograph as evidence. His gesture enacts a symbolic “leap of faith,” compelling the viewer to choose between belief in an impossible act—Klein soaring through the air, seemingly gifted with supernatural powers—or acknowledgment of the artifice, in which he falls.
The photograph was first published in a fictional newspaper, distributed under the sensational headline “Un homme dans l’espace!” (“A man in space!”). The paper, likely parodying contemporary media coverage of the international space race, announced that “The painter of space leaps into the void!” This strategic act of media manipulation exemplifies Klein’s talent for merging spectacle, myth-making, and philosophical inquiry. The image has since become one of the most iconic in his oeuvre, appearing on the covers of major publications, including Voids at the Centre Pompidou, 2009, and Declaring Space at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2007.
Yves Klein (French, b. Nice 1928 - d. Paris 1962)
Leap Into the Void, October 27, 1960, printed later 1992
gelatin silver print
image: 7 11/16 x 5 11/16 inches (19.5 x 14.5 cm)
framed dimensions: 19 5/16 x 16 3/4 inches (49 x 42.5 cm)
photograph by Harry Shunk, signed H. Shunk on label verso
(YKB-6.XVI)
Provenance:
Harry Shunk, New York.
Private Collection, Paris.
Private Collection, New York (2021).
Exhibitions:
"Yves Klein: Monochrome und Feuer", Krefeld, Musée Haus Lange, 14 January - 26 February, 1961.
“Alfredo Jaar: Abbiamo Amato tanto La Rivoluzione”, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy, November 11, 2013 - February 3, 2014.
“Alfredo Jaar: The Temptation to Exist”, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, May 13 - June 25, 2022.*
Literature:
‘Dimanche’ newspaper, 27 November 1960.
‘Yves Klein, 1928-1962, une rétrospective’, 13 March to 23 May 1983, Paris exhibition catalogue, Centre Pompidou, Ed. The Arts Publisher, New York, p.63 repr. in col.
'Yves Klein, conférence de la Sorbonne, 3 June 1959’, Galerie Montaigne, Paris, 1992, illustrated n.p.
T. Genevrier-Tausti, “L’envol d’Yves Klein: l’origine d’une légende”, Paris, 2006, p.99 repr. in col.
Auping, Michael, “Declaring Space”, Fort Worth: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2007, repr. in col on the cover.
Copeland, Mathieu, “Voids: A Retrospective”, Zurich: JPR|Ringier, 2009.
“Alfredo Jaar: Abbiamo Amato tanto La Rivoluzione”, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy, 2013-2014, p. 60 repr. in col.
* unless indicated, different edition of the work exhibited
Left: Winged Victory of Samothrace, -200 / -175 (1st quarter 2nd century BC) © 2014 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Philippe Fuzeau
La victoire de Samothrace (designed 1961-1962 and realized in 1973)
Yves Klein likely created La Victoire de Samothrace, 1961–62, in the final year of his life, imbuing the work with both symbolic and personal resonance. A reimagining of the ancient sculpture Nike of Samothrace, 190 B.C., perhaps the most important Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era and currently held in the permanent collection of Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Klein’s version synthesizes classical form with a radical, monochromatic sensibility. The original figure, renowned for its dynamism and expressive movement, is stripped of its historical and cultural specificity through Klein’s signature application of his blue. Rendered entirely in International Klein Blue, the sculpture becomes a vessel for immaterial energy, detached from time.
The choice of subject, and its creation so near the artist’s untimely death, adds poignant significance. As the winged goddess of victory, Nike becomes, in Klein’s hands, not merely a symbol of triumph, but also one of transcendence and transformation. Klein died on June 6, 1962, of a heart attack—his second in a matter of months. Anticipating his mortality, he had revised his will earlier that year, and as early as 1960 had staged his own symbolic “burial.”
This work exemplifies Klein’s radical methodology: the appropriation of culturally loaded forms recontextualized through his aesthetic of dematerialization. For Klein, blue was not merely color but a metaphysical medium—a portal to the infinite. La Victoire de Samothrace, 1961-62, stands as a culmination of his philosophical and artistic ambitions, merging the enduring gravitas of antiquity with the experimental fervor of the postwar avant-garde.
Yves Klein (French, b. Nice 1928 - d. Paris 1962)
La victoire de Samothrace, designed 1961-1962 and realized in 1973
IKB pigment and synthetic resin on plaster mold, stone base
21 1/4 x 10 5/8 x 11 1/2 inches
(54 x 27 x 29.2 cm)
edition of 175 (#17/175)
signed initials and dated ‘YK 62’ (on the right wing); numbered ‘17/175’ (rear)
(YKB-11.17)
Provenance:
Galerie LC, Paris.
Private Collection, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Private Collection, New York (2016).
Literature:
McShine, Pierre, Pierre Descargues, and Pierre Restany. Yves Klein. New York: Jewish Museum, 1967, p. 51.
Wember, Paul. Yves Klein. Cologne, 1969, no. S9, p. 97.
Yves Klein 1928-1962: A Retrospective. Houston: Rice University, Institute for the Arts, 1982, cat. no. 92.
Exhibition. Cat., Katalog zur Ausstellung. Mönchengladbach: Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, 1984, p. 107. Exhibition. Cat., Hommage au Président Georges Pompidou un homme de culture. Paris: Artcurial, 1987. p. 28.
Prat, Veronique. Douze ans de l’histoire d’Artcurial. Paris, 1987.
Exhibition. Cat., Premier volet des collections, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain. Nice, 1990. p. 11.
Fournet, Claude. Musées de Nice and Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain. Paris, 1990. p. 31.
Livingstone, Marco. Pop Art, A Continuing History. Paris, 1990. no. 67, p. 54.
Fournet, Claude and Jacqueline Péglion, ed. Chroniques niçoises - Genèse d’un Musée. Nice, 1991.
Stich, Sidra. Yves Klein. Ostfildern-Ruit, 1994. p. 247.
Picard, Gilles-François. Yves Klein ou la Révolution bleue. Paris, 1997. p. 104.
Exhibition. Cat., Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama, 1958-1968. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1998.
Ledeur, Jean-Paul. Yves Klein: Catalogue raisonné des éditions, et sculptures éditées, Knokke-Le-Zoute. 2000. no. S9.
Charlet, Nicholas. Yves Klein. Paris, 2000, p. 231.
Weitermeier, Hannah. Yves Klein, 1928-1962: International Klein Blue. London, 2001. p. 2.
Lumeau, Janny. Des mots bleus por “Klein le monochrome”. France, 2003.
Prat, Véronique. La Collection de Georges et Claude Pompidou. Paris, 2004. p. 81.
Pajon, Léo. La Victoire de Samothrace. Paris, 2005. p. 118.
Andrews, Sandrine. Yves Klein à la conquète de l’espace. Paris, 2006. p. 26.
Exhibition. Cat., Le Nouveau Réalisme. Paris: Musée National d’Art Moderne and Centre Georges Pompidou, 2007. p. 199.
Exhibition. Cat., Kunst der Gegenwart/1960 bis 2007. Mönchengladbach: Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, 2014. p. 207.
Lista, Giovanni. ‘Les sculptures d’Yves Klein et le spatialisme de Lucio Fontana’. Ligeia dossiers sur l’art,
Paris. 2014. vol. XXVII, no. 129-132, p. 25.
Exhibitions:
Gallery 44, Kaarst-Düsseldorf, Yves Klein und seine Freunde, October 1986 - January 1987.
Galleria d’Arte Niccoli, Parma, Une probabile umore dell’idea, April - May 1989.
Galerie Gimpel, London, Yves Klein, June - September 1994.
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Yves Klein, November 1994 - January 1995.
Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome, Citta Natura, Mostra Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea, April 21 – June 23, 1997.
Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Engel: Legenden der Gegenwart, June 11 – September 7, 1997.
Musée de l’air et de l’espace, Le Bourget, L’art, l’air et l’espace, October 1999.
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, Nice Movements - Contemporary French Art, April - June 2000.
Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain de Nice, France, Yves Klein, La Vie, la vie elle-même qui est l’art absolu, (Traveled to Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato) April 2000 - January 2001.
Museu de Arte de Macau, Macau, Du Nouveau Réalisme à Supports Surfaces, July – August, 2000.
Flora Bigai, Pietrasanta, Nel blu dipinto di blu Yves Klein, July - September 2004.
Musée des Beaux Arts, Roanne, Marie Raymond - Yves Klein (Traveled to Musée Joseph Dechelette, Carcassonne, France; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Coblence, Germany; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; LAAC Dunkerque, Dunkirk, France), November 2004 - June 2007.
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Yves Klein, January - May 2005.
Galerie Rive Gauche, Paris, Yves Klein et Niki de Saint Phalle, February - March 2005.
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Nouveau Réalisme: Revolution des Alltäglichen (Traveled to
Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany), March 2007 - January 2008.
Museo d’Arte & Sculture in Città, Lugano, Yves Klein & Rotraut, May - September 2009.
Circulo de Bellas Arte, Madrid, Marie Raymond - Yves Klein Herencias, October 2009 – January 2010.
Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice, The Small Utopia, Ars Multiplicata, Summer 2012.
Villa Datris, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Sculpture du Sud, May - November 2014.
Hotel Baur au Lac, Zurich, Art in the Park, June - July 2014.
