Yves Klein was born in 1928 in Nice. He there attended a judo school and had his first spiritual experiences. He came to know Arman, and an inspiring, lifelong friendship developed. In 1946/1947 he composed his first monotone symphonies, musical compositions consisting of only a single note, and in 1949 he painted his first monochrome pictures. The first exhibition of his monotone works was held at the Club des Solitaires in 1955. Klein also vigorously engaged with art theoretically, writing numerous essays. In 1957 he entered his Blue Period. He first exhibited only blue works in the Galerie Apollonaire in Milan. He applied his pigment directly onto the canvas with the fixative Rhodopas, which preserved its radiance. In addition, he developed his Anthropometries with female models, printing their blue-pigment-smeared nude bodies directly onto canvas. Countless other blue objects followed. Later gold and pink monochromes were added. In 1960 Yves Klein, Arman, Raymond Hains and others signed a first manifesto and founded the Nouveaux Réalistes. In the following year he produced works with fire. Yves Klein died in Paris after a heart attack in 1962.
