User:Glumberrandy

                                Yves Klein Blue Revolution 

There are fifty years, 6 June 1962, the painter Yves Klein passed away at the age of 34. It was a shooting star in the history of art, but half a century later the blueness of his paintings keeps its fire and it is more than ever considered one of the greatest avant-garde of the twentieth century.

Proof, the FC1 canvas, considered the last of his works, reached on May 9 the record price of $ 36 million at an auction at Christie's in New York. Christie's has even achieved a sublime video on creating FC1.

But this is not the dimension of Yves Klein which I'll talk about today, but the role he played in the writing of my blue Century saga.

I will never forget that day in June 1990. I was then still in high school and I visited for the first time the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMAC) in the city of Nice, which had just opened its doors. When at the end of a corridor, I saw this completely International Klein Blue cloth, I had one of the greatest artistic emotions of my life. I am approached and stayed long minutes to observe this pigment, so pure, so deep, so sweet. I knew nothing of the artist who painted it black and white and I certainly did not imagine that this International Klein Blue change the course of my life.

I returned often to MAMAC that year and these visits were further multiplied when I entered High School science prep Massena, located a few hundred meters from the museum. I was going to recharge my batteries with these works in moments of doubt. Whenever I go back to Nice, I make my pilgrimage to MAMAC in the room devoted to Yves Klein. It's a ritual. I feel good in this room, I feel myself a little voice speaks. This is where the idea germinated Century blue and then is fed. This blue serve as binding all I wanted to put in my novel to form my blue revolution.

Born in Nice (like yours truly, you guessed it), Yves Klein began painting relatively late, in 1955. His career was very short but intense and prolific. Before painting, he excelled in judo. Formed Nice club Judo Robert Boagaert, the club and the teacher that I also attended much later in the 80's (but I stopped just before the blue belt! At the time I did not know who was Yves Klein and above all he had practiced in this club ... coincidences ... coincidences). He then left to age 24 for a year and a half in Tokyo to be formed by Tsunetane Oda (one of the greatest masters of the Kodokan). Back with its 4th dan (he was one of the first Europeans to get it), he published in 1954 a method of judo Grasset still authoritative.

Judo and Zen in Japan have provided the foundation for what will be his philosophy singular. A philosophy where the 4 elements and a reflection on the intangible occupy a dominant role. In 1955 and 1956, while continuing judo, Yves Klein painted his first monochrome proposals. All colors spend there, but its famous blue will make its appearance as the end of 1956 after a long search to find chemical process that would capture the heat of the pure blue purple pigment: IKB (International Klein Blue).

Fifty years later, the light still shines with equal brilliance; he earned his victory over matter.

Beginning in 1957, he exhibited for the first time in a gallery in Milan where he meets Lucio Fontana, the man who defaces monochrome (read my post about it: the new master of the International Klein Blue- Like Pure Space) and buy it one of his blue monochromes first Then comes the 57 current reputation with his first exhibition at the Gallery Iris Cleft in Paris marking the beginning of his blue period.

1957 is also the year when Yves Klein will have the intuition of what Gagarin discover 4 years later: "from Space, Earth is blue." For those who have read my novel Shadows and Light , you will certainly understand where he got this intuition ...

In 1958, he wrote to the president of the United States Eisenhower a letter entitled "The International Klein Blue Revolution". The Blue Revolution is presented as a movement having its registered office at Galerie Iris Clert and "tend to alter the way we think and agar the French people in the direction of individual duty vis-à-vis the community nations. "

At the same time, he also wrote to the President of the International Conference of the detection of atomic explosives, proposing to color in blue future explosions.

He also wrote to the Secretary General of the International Geophysical Year in a planet's sea is called "blue sea" and colorful with plank tonic IKB.

The International Klein Blue revolution desired by Yves Klein was unfortunately born. It was extremely criticized in New York (where fifty years later, paradox, his paintings sell for high prices ...) for the eccentric character of his works. Yves Klein even had to justify its approach in 1961 in his manifesto of the Chelsea Hotel , an extract of which is, moreover highlight of my novel Shadows and Lights:

Yves Klein died in 1962 of a heart attack after handling too many chemicals for the production of his works. Astronaut Paul Gardner, International Klein Blue Century hero and Lights and Shadows, essentially the same age as him and his heart makes him also suffer (coincidence?). What will be its fate?

In my book, Paul Gardner, left alone on the moon, gives life to the Blue Revolution. May she have the same longevity as fire paintings of Yves le Monochrome. Anyway, I'm happy to go to Nice on 9 and 10 June to attend the book fair and I will certainly make my journey to MAMAC to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Master of the International Klein Blue.

Come on, all your brushes and bright blue revolution!