Yves Klein and Nouveau Realisme

       Yves Klein was among the many artists sent into a state of disillusionment by World War II and the Holocaust. In response, Klein created a new movement of art called "Nouveau Realisme," or New Reality. My instructor described it as "a comical and ironical view of human life," using a variety of media ranging from traditional oil on canvas to kinetic sculpture in order to  portray the silliness and absurdness of human nature in the wake of millions of lost lives. For the purposes of this post, I will focus on the anthropometries that Yves Klein "painted."

Yves Klein, Anthropométrie de l'époque bleue (ANT 82), oil on canvas. 156.5 x 282.5 cm. 1960.

        This was the anthropometry that our instructor showed us in class. It is a fairly straightforward image of vaguely human figures that are pressed into the canvas, each one in a deep blue color that Klein developed himself. When I say pressed, I mean that Klein actually had a group of supermodels put paint onto their naked bodies and press themselves into the canvas. The anthropometry is designed not only to capture the human form but to show the temporary mark that each model left. This is the first time that I have heard of a work that was painted using the human body as the primary tool, rather than the gentle strokes normally associated with oil paints. It calls to mind Georges Mathieu, who also broke the rules of oil painting by using long and aggressive strokes in his works.
        As for the deep blue color that Klein developed himself, he went quite out of his way to develop a hue that would not dull when made into paint, even getting it patented when he succeeded. Now known as International Klein Blue (IKB), the ultramarine hue that Klein developed reflects his goal of reaching out to the other side of the unknown, mainly the sky and sea.
        For this post, I focused on the anthropometries that Klein "painted." Paint was not the only media used in Nouveau Realisme. Sculpture was used as well. Nouveau Realisme was recognized as an official movement in 1960.

       For the full story on International Klein Blue, visit
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/international_klein_blue.htm

       For more on Georges Mathieu and Lyrical Abstraction, visit
http://www.artinsight.com/lyrical_abstraction.html

       For more historical information on Nouveau Realisme, visit
http://www.prlog.org/11899013-the-history-of-nouveau-ralisme.html