International Klein Blue
Encyclopedia
International Klein Blue (IKB) is a deep blue
hue first mixed by the French artist
Yves Klein
. IKB's visual impact comes from its heavy reliance on Ultramarine
, as well as Klein's often thick and textured application of paint
to canvas
.
International Klein Blue (or IKB as it is known in art circles) was developed by French artist Yves Klein as part of his search for colors which best represented the concepts he wished to convey as an artist. IKB was developed by Klein and chemist
s to have the same color brightness and intensity as dry pigment
s, which it achieves by suspending dry pigment in polyvinyl acetate
, a synthetic resin marketed in France as Rhodopas M or M60A by the firm Rhône Poulenc.
While it is often said that the method for creating International Klein Blue was patented by the artist, this is not entirely true. Klein's 1961 patent had little to do with the chemical composition of the color, instead describing a method by which Klein was able to distance himself from the physical creation of his paintings by remotely directing models covered in the color.
where Klein painted models' naked bodies and had them walk, roll and sprawl upon blank canvases as well as more conventional single-color canvases.
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
hue first mixed by the French artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Yves Klein
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...
. IKB's visual impact comes from its heavy reliance on Ultramarine
Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a blue pigment consisting primarily of a double silicate of aluminium and sodium with some sulfides or sulfates, and occurring in nature as a proximate component of lapis lazuli...
, as well as Klein's often thick and textured application of paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
to canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
.
History
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
s to have the same color brightness and intensity as dry pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
s, which it achieves by suspending dry pigment in polyvinyl acetate
Polyvinyl acetate
Polyvinyl acetate, PVA, PVAc, poly, is a rubbery synthetic polymer with the formula n. It belongs to the polyvinyl esters family with the general formula -[RCOOCHCH2]-...
, a synthetic resin marketed in France as Rhodopas M or M60A by the firm Rhône Poulenc.
While it is often said that the method for creating International Klein Blue was patented by the artist, this is not entirely true. Klein's 1961 patent had little to do with the chemical composition of the color, instead describing a method by which Klein was able to distance himself from the physical creation of his paintings by remotely directing models covered in the color.
Usage in Yves Klein's art
Although Klein had worked with blue extensively in his earlier career, it was not until 1958 that he used it as the central component of a piece (the color effectively becoming the art). Klein embarked on a series of monochromatic works using IKB as the central theme. These included performance artPerformance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
where Klein painted models' naked bodies and had them walk, roll and sprawl upon blank canvases as well as more conventional single-color canvases.
International Klein Blue in culture
- In the novel Zero HistoryZero HistoryZero History is a novel by William Gibson. It concludes the informal trilogy begun by Pattern Recognition and features Hollis Henry and Milgrim from Spook Country, the middle book, as the protagonists.-Plot:...
by William GibsonWilliam GibsonWilliam Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
, the character Hubertus Bigend has a suit made of material in IKB. In the novel he states that he wears this because the intensity of the color makes other people uncomfortable. - Yves Klein BlueYves Klein BlueYves Klein Blue was an Australian indie/rock band from Brisbane. The band are signed to Brisbane record label Dew Process, under which they re-released their debut EP Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention to Themselves...
, an Australian rock band, take their name from the color. - In 1982 Danish punk rock band Kliche released an instrumental named International Klein Blue : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4jnYvF1XHw&feature=related
External links
- http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=8143Yves Klein's "Klein Blue" painting at the Tate GalleryTate GalleryThe Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
] - SFMOMA | Collections Access Online | Yves Klein | IKB74
- International-Klein-Blue.com
- Yves Klein's "Blue Monochrome" at NYMOMA
- History of International Klein Blue at Imprint