Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Born in 1928 in Nice, the child of two painters, Yves Klein might have seemed predestined to become an artist. In 1947, at the age of nineteen, he developed an intense interest in an unlikely combination of topics: Rosicrucianism (a theological doctrine built on esoteric truths of the ancient past, which, concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm) and judo. In 1949, he composed the Symphonie Monoton-Silence, which consists of twenty minutes of a single extended sound produced by an orchestra and a chorus, followed by twenty minutes of silence. After intensive training in Japan, upon his return to France in 1952 he published a book on judo and opened his own school.
Over the years, Klein had dabbled in painting, but only in 1955 did he begin to think seriously about becoming an artist. Refusing to play by the rules, he denounced both the academy and the avant-garde, proclaiming himself a revolutionary genius. In this regard, he was right. His career progressed with miraculous speed. By 1958, he had had solo shows in Milan, London, Düsseldorf and Paris, and was commissioned to create a series of huge murals for a new theater in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Over the next two years, he began to make a new kind of picture, the 'anthropométry,' by covering models with paint and having them press their bodies against paper or canvas. He exhibited an empty gallery as an artwork. He invented another kind of conceptual art based on the sale of “zones of immaterial pictorial sensibility.” While painting his German murals, he became close to the artists of Group Zero in Düsseldorf, and in 1960 he helped found the Nouveaux Réalistes group in Paris.
In 1961, the Museum Haus Lange, in Krefeld, organized a retrospective of his work, where he exhibited sculptures made from jets of fire. He then proceeded to make a series of canvases “painted” with a flame-thrower. In the same year, he had exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Rome, and Milan. In January 1962 he married the artist Rotraut Uecker; their happy union was cut tragically short in June, when Klein suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of thirty-four.
A true giant of the post-war avant-garde, Yves Klein left behind an impressive body of work that broke new ground and blended traditional artistic mediums with performance and spiritual exploration. Lévy Gorvy is honored to represent the Estate of Yves Klein in North America. Exhibitions of the artist at the gallery include Yves Klein: A Career Survey (2005) and Audible Presence: Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly (2013), which was accompanied by the first New York performance of Symphonie Monotone-Silence to a vast audience at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in September 2013 to critical acclaim.
Selected Works
Video
Yves Klein's Monotone Silence Symphony in San Francisco
March 27, 2017
On January 12, 2017 at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, Lévy Gorvy presented the third U.S performance of Yves Klein's groundbreaking Monotone-Silence Symphony.
Over one thousand people were present to experience this moving and transcendent work, which unfolds as an orchestra of musicians and singers holds a single continuous tone for a twenty-minute period, followed by twenty minutes of absolute silence.
With thanks to Grace Cathedral and online partner Artsy. Video by Slow Clap Productions.
Exhibitions
Yves Klein
"No Line on the Horizon"
Palm Beach
November 20 - December 5, 2021
Yves KleinMETA VISCERAL
London
June 1 - July 31, 2021
Yves KleinFOCUS: Yves Klein | James Turrell
London
June 1 - July 6, 2018
Yves KleinAudible Presence: Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly
New York
September 18 - November 16, 2013
Yves KleinFor the Martian Chronicles
Los Angeles
November 8, 2012 - January 5, 2013
Yves KleinThe Complexity of the Simple
New York
December 1, 2007 - February 2, 2008
Yves KleinYves Klein: A Career Survey
New York
October 25 - December 10, 2005
Museum Exhibitions
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Sky as a Studio. Yves Klein and his contemporaries
May 2 - November 2, 2020
Atelier des Lumières
Yves Klein: infinite blue
February 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021
Musée Soulages Rodez
Yves Klein: des cris bleus
June 21 - November 3, 2019
Power Station of Art
The Challenging Souls: Yves Klein, Lee Ufan, Ding Yi
April 28 - July 28, 2019
Centre Pompidou-Metz
L'Aventure de la couleur. Oeuvres phares du Centre Pompidou
February 24, 2018 - July 22, 2019
Museum of Old and New Art
Vibration in Zero
June 9, 2018 - April 22, 2019
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
The Moon: From Inner Worlds to Outer Space
September 13, 2018 - January 20, 2019
Musée Lalique
Prisme - Quand le cristal Lalique rencontre l’art contemporain
April 27 - November 4, 2018
La maison rouge
L'envol
June 15 - October 30, 2018
Palais d'Iena
Suspension - A History of Abstract Hanging Sculpture 1918 – 2018
October 15 - 28, 2018
Blenheim Palace
Yves Klein at Blenheim Palace
July 18 - October 7, 2018
Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain de Nice
Cosmogonies - Au gré des éléments
June 9 - September 16, 2018
Musée des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée
Or
April 24 - September 10, 2018
Lévy Gorvy
Yves Klein - Pigment Pur
June 1 - July 6, 2018
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
Facing the Future: Arts in Europe 1945-1968
March 3 - May 21, 2017
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959–1971
March 19 - September 10, 2017
Fundación Proa
YVES KLEIN. RETROSPECTIVA
March 18 - July 31, 2017
Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo
Yves Klein
August 26, 2017 - January 14, 2018
Selected Press
Sortir a Paris | TOP DES EXPOS, MUSÉES ET MONUMENTS À (RE)DÉCOUVRIR AU MOMENT DE LEUR RÉOUVERTURE À PARIS
January 2, 2021
L'Atelier des Lumières voit la vie en bleu avec l'exposition Yves Klein, l'infini bleu, un univers visuel …
Toute la Culture | Les meilleures expositions qui rouvrent le 15 décembre 2020
December 7, 2020
Yves Klein, l’exposition à l’Atelier des Lumières prolongée. Il s’agit d’une mise en scène …
Art Market Monitor | Lévy Gorvy Offers $1.7 M. Gold Yves Klein, Joins Sotheby’s Gallery Network
June 12, 2020
The online marketplace is now saturated with high-value works listed with publicly available prices in …
Artsy | How Yves Klein Tricked the World with This Iconic Photograph
January 2, 2020
The man was avant-garde artist Yves Klein, and it was his own satirical publication featuring his now-famous image …
La Diagonale de l'Art | Yves Klein ou l’éclipse de l’art
October 1, 2019
Et si l’originalité d’Yves Klein résidait plus dans ses œuvres immatérielles que dans ses monochromes …
Fad | My week in the art world – Signals to Klein
June 12, 2018
With the debut of its FOCUS series Lévy Gorvy wants us to consider works by exceptional artists in a …
Art Is Alive | Yves Klein and James Turrell dialogue at Lévy Gorvy
June 5, 2018
Yves Klein and James Turrell dialogue at Lévy Gorvy in a spectacular exhibition running until 6 July …
San Francisco Chronicle | Study in sound and silence
January 10, 2017
The “Monotone-Silence Symphony” by the French painter Yves Klein is one of those artistic creations …
Artsy | Yves Klein’s Legacy Is about Much More Than Blue
January 9, 2017
As the story goes, Yves Klein’s love affair with the color blue began when the artist was seduced by …
Artnet | Lévy Gorvy Partnership Debuts With Bold, Experimental Yves Klein Symphony
December 15, 2016
At age 20, Yves Klein conceived of an experimental composition with two friends in the South of France …
Departures Magazine | All About Yves
May 8, 2015
In her collection Bluets, the poet and art critic Maggie Nelson writes about visiting London and seeing …
Kunstzeitung | Konkurrenz oder willkommene Ergänzung?
January 31, 2014
Im Dezember feierte die Paul Kasmin Gallery das Jubiläum von Constantin Brancusis erstem Auftritt in …
LA Times | Moving sound to anywhere but the concert hall
December 28, 2013
NEW YORK — This has been the season of the concert hall. The one named after Walt Disney turned 10. …
Gallerist | The Year in, and Beyond, the Galleries
December 18, 2013
It’s been brutal trying to whittle down a “best of” list for 2013, but the top slot? That’s easy: …
The New York Times | ‘Audible Presence: Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly’
November 1, 2013
A beautiful show of often little-known works by three revered artists, all of whom exaggerated or abused …
The New York Times | Paola Pivi - ‘Ok, you are better than me, so what?’; ‘Audible Presence’
October 17, 2013
There are several ways to describe the frisson between the shows with which Galerie Perrotin, of Paris, …
Blouin Artinfo | “Audible Presence” Echoes At Dominique Lévy
October 14, 2013
For the inaugural exhibition at Dominique Lévy’s new gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the …
Haute Living | Haute Event: Dominique Lévy Celebrates New Gallery
October 7, 2013
Connoisseur, collector, advisor, and gallerist Dominique Lévy is admired internationally as a leading …
The New York Times | Shhh. Silence Being Observed.
October 4, 2013
There’s been a lot of noise about silence lately. Last month, art and music lovers poured into an Upper …
New Yorker | Audible Presence: Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly
October 1, 2013
This seductive show, the gallery’s first, borrows its title from Klein’s description of his rarely …
Art Observerd | New York: “Audible Presence: Fontana Klein Twombly” at Dominique Lévy Through November 16th, 2013
September 26, 2013
Twenty minutes of continuous, monotone sound, followed by twenty minutes of absolute silence
Bloomberg | Kate Moss Overalls, Blue Rain, Edmund de Waal: Uptown Art
September 24, 2013
A turquoise bear is ready to drop onto his colorful siblings from the ceiling of 909 Madison Avenue, …
Purple FR | Audible Presence: Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly at Dominique Lévy Gallery, New York
September 23, 2013
Image Gallery
CBS News | Passage: A concert of note
September 22, 2013
It was the New York premiere of the “Monotone-Silence Symphony.” Conceived by the late French artist …
Cool Hunting | Link About It: This Week's Picks
September 21, 2013
12. Silence and Symphony Swiss-born Dominique Lévy—a powerhouse in the contemporary art market—rose …
Vogue | Two Art Shows Featuring Works by Paola Pivi, Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, and Cy Twombly
September 20, 2013
“I love bears” Paola Pivi explained on the opening day of her new Galerie Perrotin on Madison and …
Observer | ‘This Symphony Does Not Exist’: At Dominique Lévy’s Performance of Yves Klein’s ‘Monotone-Silence’
September 19, 2013
There are many ways to open a new gallery. On Tuesday night, the irrepressible Frenchman Emmanuel Perrotin …
The New York Times | The Storm Before the Calm: Strange Sounds Emerge From ‘Monotone-Silence Symphony’
September 19, 2013
I thought I heard bagpipes. I thought I heard snippets of Philip Glass’s “1000 Airplanes on the Roof.” …
Animal New York | Hear Last Night's Yves Klein Monotone-Silence Symphony Performance
September 19, 2013
Last evening at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, an orchestra and a chorus performed Yves Klein’s …
The Daily Beast | A Silence Worth 1,000 Pictures
September 19, 2013
This untitled blue monochrome, painted by Yves Klein in 1956, is just a standin for another, unreproducible …
DuJour | Yves Klein Uptown Moment
September 18, 2013
When she was just 13 years old, in the late 70s, Swiss born New York gallerist Dominique Levy was given …
Interview Magazine | An Audible Presence in New York
September 18, 2013
Imagine 20 minutes of a blaring single note, emitted in unison by a symphony and a choir. Imagine it …
The Styley | Audible Prescence at Dominique Levy
September 18, 2013
Does anyone remember the Rag & Bone outpost on Madison and East 73rd Street? I do, and fondly.
The New York Times | A Sound, Then Silence
September 17, 2013
The sound, a D major chord produced by an orchestra and a chorus, begins abruptly, full force, and fills …
whitewall | Top Exhibitions Opening This Week
September 17, 2013
Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly: “Audible Presence” at Dominique Lévy Gallery September 18 …
SFAQ | Review: “Audible Presence”, Fontana, Klein, Twombly at Dominique Lévy, New York.
September 17, 2013
The glamorous “L” of L&M Arts has just opened the first show of her new eponymous gallery Dominique …
Art in America | Dominique Lévy Launches Upper East Side Venue
September 16, 2013
Dealer Dominique Lévy had been searching without success for Upper East Side real estate for her new …
Departures Magazine | Two New York Gallery Shows Not to Miss
September 16, 2013
In 1960 Yves Klein debuted his 40-Minute-Monotone-Symphony, a single toned work conceived 13 years earlier …
The Village Voice | Art Fall Picks 2013
September 4, 2013
In 1971, L.A. artist Chris Burden spent five days jammed inside a school locker. Later that year, he …
Architectural Digest | Emmanuel Perrotin and Dominique Levy Create Manhattan's Newest Contemporary Art Destination
August 31, 2013
The most anticipated gallery opening of New York’s young fall season is actually a two-for-one.
Artdaily | Dominique Levy to inaugurate new gallery with masterworks by Fontana, Klein, and Twombly
August 5, 2013
Dominique Levy announced her gallery’s new home in New York City and the inaugural exhibition Inaudible …
The New York Times | Yves Klein’s ‘Monotone’ Symphony Is Headed to New York
August 1, 2013
On March 9, 1960, 100 people, all in black tie, gathered in a Paris gallery to see the artist Yves Klein …
More Information
Artists
Alexander Calder
Enrico Castellani
Chung Sang-Hwa
Francesco Clemente
Dan Colen
Willem de Kooning
Lucio Fontana
Gego
Yves Klein
Jutta Koether
Seung-taek Lee
Robert Motherwell
Senga Nengudi
Roman Opalka
Adrian Piper
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Carol Rama
Martial Raysse
Peter Regli
Germaine Richier
Karin Schneider
Joel Shapiro
Kazuo Shiraga
Pierre Soulages
Pat Steir
Tu Hongtao
Günther Uecker
Zao Wou-Ki
Specializing in Works By
- Terry Adkins
- Vincenzo Agnetti
- Carl Andre
- Diane Arbus
- Jean Arp
- Francis Bacon
- John Baldessari
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Alighiero Boetti
- Lee Bontecou
- Louise Bourgeois
- Mark Bradford
- Constantin Brancusi
- Cecily Brown
- Alberto Burri
- Sérgio Camargo
- Vija Celmins
- John Chamberlain
- Eduardo Chillida
- Lygia Clark
- George Condo
- Joseph Cornell
- Gino de Dominicis
- Nicolas de Staël
- Richard Diebenkorn
- PETER DOIG
- Jean Dubuffet
- Sam Francis
- Helen Frankenthaler
- Lucian Freud
- Alberto Giacometti
- Gilbert & George
- Johannes Girardoni
- Sonia Gomes
- Julio González
- Arshile Gorky
- Adolph Gottlieb
- Mark Grotjahn
- Philip Guston
- David Hammons
- Keith Haring
- Damien Hirst
- David Hockney
- Thomas Houseago
- Jasper Johns
- Donald Judd
- Ellsworth Kelly
- Anselm Kiefer
- Martin Kippenberger
- Franz Kline
- Jeff Koons
- Jannis Kounellis
- Lee Krasner
- Barbara Kruger
- Yayoi Kusama
- Gerald Laing
- Fernand Léger
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Liza Lou
- Tsuyoshi Maekawa
- René Magritte
- Piero Manzoni
- Brice Marden
- Agnes Martin
- Henri Matisse
- Fausto Melotti
- Joel Mesler
- Eleanore Mikus
- Joan Miró
- Joan Mitchell
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Piet Mondrian
- Paulo Monteiro
- Henry Moore
- François Morellet
- Bruce Nauman
- Barnett Newman
- Albert Oehlen
- Claes Oldenburg
- Francis Picabia
- Pablo Picasso
- Lari Pittman
- Sigmar Polke
- Jackson Pollock
- Richard Prince
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Charles Ray
- Ad Reinhardt
- Gerhard Richter
- Jean Paul Riopelle
- Mark Rothko
- Ed Ruscha
- Robert Ryman
- Salvatore Scarpitta
- Thomas Schütte
- Richard Serra
- Cindy Sherman
- Jeff Sonhouse
- Clyfford Still
- Rudolf Stingel
- Mark Tansey
- Mickalene Thomas
- James Turrell
- Cy Twombly
- Andy Warhol
- Tom Wesselmann
- Franz West
- Jonas Wood
- Christopher Wool