Jean-Yves Klein was born in 1928 in Nice, France, and emerged as one of the most radical and influential figures of postwar European art. From an early age, he was exposed to a variety of artistic and philosophical influences, including his mother, a painter, and his father, a journalist and writer. His formative years coincided with the turmoil of World War II, a period that shaped his understanding of freedom, expression, and the possibilities of art beyond traditional boundaries. Klein’s early artistic explorations were eclectic, including figurative painting and studies of contemporary abstraction, but he quickly moved toward a radical simplification of form and a search for a pure, immaterial experience of color and space.

Klein is perhaps best known for his development of International Klein Blue, a deep, vibrant ultramarine hue that became a signature of his work. This color was not simply a pigment but a carefully formulated material meant to evoke the infinite and the immaterial. Klein’s fascination with immateriality reflected his interest in philosophy, mysticism, and spiritual traditions, particularly those drawn from Eastern thought. He sought to create a visual language capable of expressing the void, the infinite, and the immaterial forces that he believed underlay the visible world. His monochrome paintings, especially those in International Klein Blue, represent an attempt to free color from conventional representation and to allow the viewer to confront a pure, contemplative experience.

Beyond painting, Klein’s practice extended into performance, conceptual art, and experimentation with the body as a medium. His “Anthropometries” series, in which nude models covered in blue pigment pressed their bodies against canvas, transformed the human figure into a living brush, merging performance, painting, and spectacle. These works challenged conventional notions of artistic authorship, presence, and the role of the artist, emphasizing collaboration, ritual, and the theatricality of creation. Klein also staged fire paintings, sculpture, and immersive installations designed to evoke the elemental forces of air, fire, and water, further emphasizing his interest in immateriality and energy as central components of art.