Fred Klein
Encyclopedia
Fred Klein was a Dutch painter who spent much of his life in France. He was the father of the celebrated painter Yves Klein
.
Born Friedrich Franz Albert Klein in Bandung
, Indonesia
, he was known in Holland under the name of Frits Klein and in France
under the name of Fred Klein.
He lived and worked in France beginning in 1920. His style was somewhat akin to Impressionism
. A figurative painter of landscapes, he had exhibitions starting in 1930. He is known for his frequent depiction of horses and dreamy beach scenes. Dutch critics admired his work as did French ones, who often compared him to Odilon Redon
. "[Klein] starts from a dream of colors from which the motif gradually takes shape. Notwithstanding he still reverts to reality with this, albeit a dreamed up
reality," one review concluded. On his 80th birthday, the Van Gogh Museum
in Amsterdam
held a retrospective of his work. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in his paintings, leading to a spike in prices.
Fred Klein was married first to the painter Marie Raymond, the mother of Yves, and then to the painter Ursula Bardsley.
Yves Klein
Yves Klein was a French artist considered an important figure in post-war European art. He is the leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by the art critic Pierre Restany...
.
Born Friedrich Franz Albert Klein in Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, he was known in Holland under the name of Frits Klein and in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
under the name of Fred Klein.
He lived and worked in France beginning in 1920. His style was somewhat akin to Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. A figurative painter of landscapes, he had exhibitions starting in 1930. He is known for his frequent depiction of horses and dreamy beach scenes. Dutch critics admired his work as did French ones, who often compared him to Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon
Bertrand-Jean Redon, better known as Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.-Life:...
. "[Klein] starts from a dream of colors from which the motif gradually takes shape. Notwithstanding he still reverts to reality with this, albeit a dreamed up
reality," one review concluded. On his 80th birthday, the Van Gogh Museum
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.-Background:...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
held a retrospective of his work. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in his paintings, leading to a spike in prices.
Fred Klein was married first to the painter Marie Raymond, the mother of Yves, and then to the painter Ursula Bardsley.
Sources
- Based on a translation of the entry to Fred Klein in the French Wikipedia
- "Almost Forgotten," article in Tableau Fine Arts magazine by Willemijn Gertsen