Yves Klein: Prophet or Not Really

In France around the 19650-60s appeared a new art movement called New Realism which was influenced and functioned in parallel to the development of the mechanic industry of the post-WWII era. This increase of state-led modernization was mainly triggered in Europe thanks to the Marshall Plan set by the US. In this period, people were subject to a lot of publicity and to a rapid growing market since the economy was in good health and people were buying a lot. This increase in economy, publicity, and mass imagery also reached the art world, opening it to a class-variegated audience. Though, more and more started to appear a difference between the American and the French market. Indeed, by 1961, one in eight people owned a car, whereas in the US the ratio was of three out of eight. The French New Realists sought to differentiate themselves from their American counterpart, the Abstract Expressionists. In these French artists also lingered a Duchampian influence of readymades and his questioning of what art was and what the role of the artist was (Hopkins, p.76).

Yves Klein, one of the most prominent artists of this movement particularly attacked the idea of individuality and uniqueness that Abstract Expressionists brought forth. He distrusted the arbitrary integrity of the Expressionist gesture. The way they wanted to express themselves, commenting that their feelings were unique didn’t appeal to Klein. He disliked the idea of artists finding their own way through art, and then throwing it out onto the world (Hopkins, p.79). For example, his monochromes produced in 1955, permitted Klein to overpower figuration and the competing claims of line thus attaining a state of purity and spirituality. Son of painters, he sought to destroy painting. (Godfrey, p.68-69). Thus, going farther that the abstract expressionist’s ‘all-over’ technique. In his fight against figuration and line, we can see an attack to the American artists such as Louis, Newman, de Kooning and Pollock. Moreover, in his Anthropometries of the Blue age, Klein will mock de Kooning’s macho attitude and Pollock’s very particular expressive technique. By using female nudes, transformed and ridiculed by being completely covered in paint, not depicting these monstrous women on the canvas but actually throwing and making themselves rub on the virginal paper, makes reference to de Kooning’s ridicule of women. Moreover, by placing the paper onto the floor and by taking a certain distance to the painting, because Klein would instruct these women on what to do, it mock’s Pollock action paintings in which he would place the canvas onto the floor and required the artist to perform dances around the painting in which he would enter a trance to achieve maximum expression. Klein will furthermore ridicule abstract expressionist since he obtains ‘fake’ expression in a mechanical manner since he takes a certain distance to it because someone else is doing it for him. It’s only print after print, voided of expression whatsoever. Where abstract expressionist works were biographic and expressing personal feelings, Klein’s work were non-autobiographic because someone else was really doing it for him, even though he placed his signature on the work (Hopkins, p.80-83).

On the other hand, even if Klein mocked the Americans in their uniqueness and their expressiveness, he will place himself contradictorily as a self- appointed messiah and self aggrandizing showman (Ibid, p.79). Klein was a devote to a cult in which they believed that one day men would levitate. In his work The Painter of Space Hurls Himself into the Void, Klein places himself, the powerful artist, as being the one who would show the way to levitation. In the picture, he throws himself to the void as the prophet that will continue floating as though he could fly. Klein saw his spirituality important enough to be transferred to the world and enjoyed the importance of mass media to make his exploit know by everyone. Indeed, he created his own one-day journal in which he posted solely articles about his work and himself (Godfrey, p.69). Moreover, after the huge popularity of his Monochromes and their particular tone of blue, he decided to patent his blue IKB (International Klein Blue) as though this belonged to him and everyone using his color would obtain the same spirituality and prowess of the artist. This technique is very similar to the one used by publicists: Buying a product will allow you to be happy, sexy, smart, athletic, etc. He also went on calling himself ‘Yves the Monochrome’ as though doing monochromes was only done by him, making him unique (Hopkins, p.81). It also gives the image that Klein had been transmitted the spirituality of monochromes onto himself. This patenting of the color also has the result of making him public, yet unique at the same time. Klein was very aware of how things were done in the market and used it to promote his greatness. It’s all about creating the image of the god-like artist.

Klein was also very aware of the fact that massive industrialization brought easy life savers into peoples lives. All those canned foods, vehicles, televisions, and what not changed the way people saw life. Indeed, now they turned towards these products to turn their life easier. Klein will therefore also use simple, purchasable objects to fulfill their expected desires from art. For example, another of his works of art, The throwing of Gold, brings forth the idea of easy consumable objects, yet keeping this mystique about the artist. Klein would sell gold leafs to rich buyers with whom he would go to the Seine and throw the gold into the river while the buyer would burn and throw away the receipt given to him by Klein as a proof of the purchase of the work of art. In this work, the artist places himself above industrial market because he sells ideas, concepts and experiences. All of this gives him back the mystique about the powerful and spiritual artist that can transform gold into art, and then transform it again into void. He would actually sell nothing and people would buy it. The artist becomes a powerful seller because he can sell things that had no proof of happening. Finally, in his Anthropometries of the Blue Age, Klein will have a role of deciding where and how his ‘living paintbrushes’ would move. He’s some sort of director that controls everything with an absolute power. This act reinforces the idea of the god-like artist attitude Klein used to take.

In conclusion, even though Klein criticized the Abstract Expressionsist of their quest for individual expression and personal quest of self, he still sought to create around himself this aura of supernatural powers that were accorded to him as an artist. Indeed, he will create this mystique of the artist that can levitate, transform gold into art and then making it disappear, and command people as an authoritarian spiritual leader. A reason why his mystique worked is thanks to his understanding of economic factors and the mass media, while applying it for his own promotion. Though, Klein was more of a joker than an actual consumption critique, making fun of the world around him and how it functioned, with all it’s superstitions and prejudges. (Godfrey, p.70).

Bibliographie

Godfrey, Tony, L’Art Conceptuel, Paris: Phaidon, 2003

Hopkins, David, After Modern Art 1945-2000, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

This video gives an idea of how Klein's performances were undertaken, showing the extent of control over his 'paint brushes'.