A monumental 14-foot painting by the French avant-garde artist Yves Klein has sold for approximately $21.4 million (€18.4 million) at Christie’s Paris, setting a new auction record for the artist in France.
The Artwork and Sale
The work, titled California (IKB 71), was the highlight of Christie’s “Avant-Garde(s) Including Thinking Italian” sale held this week in Paris. Painted in 1961 using Klein’s iconic pigment, International Klein Blue (IKB), the piece is the largest known painting by the artist executed in this signature hue. Christie’s had estimated its value to fall between €16 million and €25 million ($18–$29 million).
Historical Context
California (IKB 71) holds a singular place within Klein’s short but prolific career. One of the few titled works by the artist, it was first exhibited in California shortly after its creation, referencing Klein’s only trip to the United States where he displayed his monochromes at the Dwan Gallery in Los Angeles and the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. The painting briefly stopped in New York before traveling west, linking two major centers of postwar art.
Provenance and Exhibition History
The artwork remained in the same New York collection since 2005, having been acquired through Pace Gallery after its earlier ownership by collector George David, the former chairman of United Technologies. Between 2005 and 2008, the painting was on long-term loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, its last public showing before this sale.
Artistic Significance
Klein, who died at just 34 in 1962, revolutionized color-based abstraction with his patented IKB pigment, aiming to evoke a sensation of limitless depth and immateriality. California (IKB 71) exemplifies this vision. As Caroline Arnold, Vice Chairman for 20/21st Century Art at Christie’s, described earlier, “It’s a museum-quality piece… a magnificent homecoming to Paris”.
The $21.4 million result underscores renewed market demand for postwar European masters and confirms Klein’s enduring status as one of the defining figures of 20th-century monochrome painting
Cover image: An auctioneer sells “California (IKB 71)” at Christie’s Paris on Thursday evening.Courtesy Christie’s
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