Klein Blue
"The man who invented colour"
Yves Klein was a monochromatic contemporary artist known for being influential in the modernism of art, post World War II - he helped the world see and enjoy colour again after it had truly been darkened by the tragedy of war. Klein was born on 28th April 1928 in Nice, France and both of his parents were artists so it wasn't surprising that he became one. He started painting monochromes as early as 1949 - associating them with freedom from ideas of representation or personal expression; he held his first private exhibition in 1950, though not publicly showing his work until 1954. Yves Peintures featured a series of intense monochromes linked to several cities he had resided in over the past four years - the art either came from an idea he had whilst in the relevant city, or the work was his abstract representation of the city's atmosphere.
International Klein Blue
A deep blue hue first mixed by the french artist in collaboration with a Parisian art paint supplier. The visual impact is down to a heavy reliance on Ultramarine (A deep blue colour and pigment - the most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters) but the uniqueness does not come from this pigment, rather the matte, synthetic resin binder in which the colour is suspended. The colour was first created in 1957 and the Klein continued to use it in almost of all his art work until he died in 1961. Klein considered the colour "had a quality close to pure space" and he associated it with "immaterial values beyond what can be seen or touched". The popularity of IKB has recently surged and it is being used in all sorts of ways around the design world - from fashion design to graphics. Some say this could be down to needing a vibrant and exciting colour in a sea of blue hues; the use of bright blues, greens and white could be down to the need for a unified global cause as we hear about issues such as global warming and sustainability. Neither RGB nor CYMK are able to accurately reproduce the intensity of this colour on screen or in print however there are close matches: CYMK - 1.00, 0.72, 0.00, 0.35 & RGB - 0, 47, 167.
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