< BACK                                                                 NEXT >

 
Yves Klein, a pious Catholic, once prayed, “Let all that emerges from me be beautiful.” Why then are his paintings, like the walls behind them, unvarying in luminance, saturation, and hue? Why hang anything there at all? No surprise, Klein once did just that, had an exhibit with nothing on the walls. He was enthralled by the infinite undefinable absolute. He yearned for his art to be a gateway to the authentic liberation of spirit. Let us be charitable and say he was a mystic. And since his paintings are now worth millions, perhaps we should be less afraid to be spiritually intoxicated no matter how foolish we might look.

Photo of a woman at the National Gallery of Art looking at three paintings by Yves Klein:
"Untitled Monogold" 1961, "Untitled Pink Monochrome" 1961, and "Untitled Blue Monochrome" 1960.
A slow shutter speed blurs the woman.
To see all of my January 2017 National Gallery images, visit:
http://www.dannyschweers.com/national-gallery-one-third-second/

You can subscribe to these as they are created, and comment.

Comments from readers

Binkie wrote:
Egad.

Donna wrote:
So interesting! He would have lived in Arden. Great!

Craig wrote:
I must admit that the art leaves me baffled. Seems close to being what, in other instances, has been considered a joke on the viewer. A mystic? Well, this is the old “beauty (meaning?) is in the eye of the beholder” with a vengeance. The head swims, searching for significance. People may say: well, this is a parable on modern existence. But that’s a bit trite, no? So he “displayed” blank walls? Now his art is worth millions? Question: are the walls worth more, the same, or less, with the art on them?

The author would love to see your comment. (Click here.)