Yves Klein

Rotraut Klein-Moquay, Paris
Acquired by the present owner from the above in November 1969

Paris, Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Yves Klein, April - May 1965, cat. no. 6
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Yves Klein, October - December 1965, cat. no. 24
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, L'Espace intérieur, une exposition concernant un art universel, December 1965 - February 1966, cat. no. 179
Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Yves Klein, March - April 1966, cat. no. 25
New York, The Jewish Museum, Yves Klein, January - March 1967 (incorrect painting illustrated)
Humlebæk, Louisiana Museum, Yves Klein, February - March 1968, cat. no. 18
Nürnberg, Institut für Moderne Kunst Nürnberg, Yves Klein in Nürnberg, April - May 1968, cat. no. 18
Prague, Narodni Galerie, Yves Klein 1928 - 1962, 1968, cat. no. 18
Paris, Musée des arts décoratifs, Yves Klein 1928 - 1962, January - March 1969
Krefeld, Museum Haus Lange, Wendepunkt: Kunst in Europa um 1960, May - July 1980, cat. no. 30
Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und europäische Kunst der sechziger und siebziger Jahre, November 1983 - April 1984, cat. no. 196, p. 29, illustrated in color
Krefeld, Museen Haus Esters und Haus Lange, Im Weißen Raum: Lucio Fontana und Yves Klein, November 1994 - February 1995, cat. no. 9, illustrated in color

Paul Wember, Yves Klein: Werkverzeichnis, Ausstellungsverzeichnis, Cologne, 1969, p. 76, illustrated

This painting is in excellent condition. The panel is mounted to a wood board, painted white, under a Plexiglas box frame. Please contact the Contemporary Art Department at 212-606-7254 for a condition report prepared by Terrence Mahon.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In a letter to American architect and art collector Philip Johnson dated October 12, 1959, Klein described his ritualistic instructions for selling 'Zones of Pictorial Immaterial Sensibility' which subverted capitalist trading strategies.  With help from the dealer Iris Clert, Klein noted that he: "had made 'receipts,' which look like bank checks. The Zones are sold for a certain amount of gold. Seven numbered series exists, each of which contains ten more zones, also numbered. For every zone sold, a unique receipt is issued, which notes the amount of pure gold that represents the material value of the immaterial thing acquired by the buyer.'' (Ingrid Pfeiffer and Carla Orthen, 'Biography,' Yves Klein, ed. Olivier Berggruen, Milan, 2004, p. 221) Klein's receipts confirm the existence of an invisible conceptual work of art, the intent to prove that a formal sale of the work has taken place. As Klein established in his 'ritual rules', each buyer may choose between two alternatives. In the first, the buyer pays the agreed upon amount of gold in exchange for a receipt. Klein keeps all of the gold while the buyer does not really acquire the 'authentic immaterial value' of the work. The second alternative is to buy an immaterial zone for gold and then to burn the receipt. (Ibid, p. 221) Only through the burning of the receipt can a genuine 'immaterialization'—a type of pictorial transubstantiation—be successfully achieved. In the end, the process of incorporating the buyer into the field of the immaterial succeeds in further aligning Klein with the avant-garde.