Performance art Conceptual art

The International Klein Blue (IKB) the physical manifestation of cosmic energy that, otherwise invisible, floats freely in the air 'Proposte Monochrome, Epoca Blu' (Proposition Monochrome; Blue Epoch) Gallery Apollinaire, Milan, (January 1957) 11 identical blue canvases, using ultramarine pigment suspended in a synthetic resin 'Rhodopas' Untitled blue monochrome (IKB 82), Dry pigment in synthetic resin on canvas, mounted on board, 36 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches

ARCHISPONGE natural sponges, pebbles and dry blue pigment in synthetic resin on panel 78 3/4 x 65 in. 200 x 165 cm YVES KLEIN

Exhibition at the Iris Clert Gallery (April 1958) La spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée, Le Vide (The Specialization of Sensibility in the Raw Material State into Stabilized Pictorial Sensibility, The Void) “Recently my work with color has led me, in spite of myself, to search little by little, with some assistance (from the observer, from the translator), for the realization of matter, and I have decided to end the battle. My paintings are now invisible and I would like to show them in a clear and positive manner, in my next Parisian exhibition at Iris Clert's."

"Klein's receipts verify the existence of an invisible work of art, which prove that a formal sale has taken place. As Klein establishes in his 'Ritual Rules', each buyer has two possibilities; If he pays the amount of gold agreed upon in exchange for a receipt, Klein keeps all of the gold, and the buyer does not really acquire the "authentic immaterial value" of the work. The second possibility is to buy an immaterial zone for gold and then to burn the receipt. Through this act, a perfect, definitive immaterialization is achieved, as well as the absolute inclusion of the buyer in the immaterial.... Klein presents capitalist trading strategies and illuminates his ideas about the indefinable, incalculable value of art.“ Yves Klein, Berggruen Hollein & Pfeiffer, Hatje Kantz 2004 p221 Yves Klein and Dino Buzzati engaged in the ritual transfer of immateriality, January 26, 1962

Between the creation of the piece in 1959 and his death on June 6 th 1962, eight Zones were sold, of which at least 3 involved the elaborate ritual. Zone de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle (Zone of immaterial pictorial sensibility)

Photomontage Le Saut dans le Vide (Leap into the Void); Photomontage by Harry Shunk of a performance by Yves Klein at Rue Gentil- Bernard, Fontenay-aux-Roses, October 1960.

Blue Sponge, Dry pigment in synthetic resin on sponge with metal rod and stone base, 39 x 12 x 10 inches

New Realism=New Perceptual Approaches To The Real The critic Pierre Restany, founded the Nouveau Realisme group in Klein's apartment, on 27 th October Founding members: Arman, Francois Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, and Jacques Villeglé, with Niki de Saint-Phalle. Christo and Duchamp joining later. Alongside works by Andy Warhol and Willem De Kooning, Yves Klein's painting RE 46 (1960) was among the top-five sellers at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in May His monochromatic blue sponge painting sold for $4,720, Previously, his painting RE I (1958) had sold for $6,716,000 at Christie's New York in November In 2008 MG 9 (1962); a monochromatic gold painting, sold for $21,000,000 at Christie's.