The painting "California" by French avant-garde artist Yves Klein was sold for 18.4 million euros – a new record for the artist's works sold in France. The auction took place at Christie's, where blue once again became the most expensive shade in the world, France24 reports, according to UNN.
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At the auction in Paris, collectors competed for one of the most famous experiments of the 20th century – a monochrome blue painting created by Yves Klein in 1961. The canvas, almost four meters wide and about two meters high, became the most expensive of his works that had previously been in a private collection.
The painting "California" is considered the pinnacle of Klein's creative search, who sought to convey "the pure energy of color" without figures or narratives. The artist himself claimed that each of his monochromes has its own "essence and breath," even if at first glance all canvases seem identical.
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The artist created this work shortly before his first trip to the USA, where he presented his exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles. In the canvas, Klein uses his signature shade "International Klein Blue" – a rich ultramarine that he patented by mixing pigment with synthetic resin and a matte substance. This color became his artistic signature and a recognizable symbol of the new aesthetics of the 1960s.
The surface of the painting is covered with small stones, creating the effect of a seabed texture.
As if the viewer is looking into the depths of the ocean, where color ceases to be just color – it becomes space
– noted the auction curators.
Yves Klein, who passed away at the age of 34, left behind few works, but his influence on contemporary art is enormous. It was he who transformed color into an independent object of contemplation – without plot, line, or form.
His previous auction record was set in 2013, when a sculpture of blue sponges resembling a flower sold for $22 million at Sotheby's in New York.
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