Collection: Yves Klein

Yves Klein (1928–1962) was a French artist whose short career produced some of the most radical propositions in post-war art. Working in Nice and Paris, Klein developed a practice centred on the immaterial, the monochrome, and the body — most famously through his invention and patenting of International Klein Blue (IKB), a synthetic ultramarine of exceptional depth and saturation that became inseparable from his name.

Klein's work encompassed monochrome paintings, sponge sculptures, fire paintings, anthropometries made with nude models as living brushes, and performances staged as public events. His Saut dans le vide (Leap into the Void, 1960) — a photograph of Klein leaping from a wall above a Paris street — remains one of the most reproduced images in the history of conceptual art. He died in Paris in 1962, aged 34.

Publications gathered here include auction catalogues, exhibition documents, and printed matter relating to Klein's practice and its afterlife — including material connected to Jean-Paul Ledeur, the chemist and custodian closely associated with Klein's editions and sculptural production. Original and period items.