Yves Klein, “Peinture feu couleur sans titre” (1962). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

On view now, the Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano is displaying works by Yves Klein, a prominent artist from the sixties. The exhibit focuses on his collaboration with Rotraut Uecker, both Klein’s wife and an artist who shared his use of imagery and poetics.  This exhibition is curated by Bruno Corà and Daniel Moquay who worked in partnership with the Archives Yves Klein of Paris. Klein’s work will be displayed alongside twenty-two of Rotraut’s metallic sculptures which can be located around the city in parks and squares.

Yves Klein, “Portrait relief d’Arman” (1962). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Related Links:
Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano Exhibition
Yves Klein Archives

Yves Klein, “Monochrome jaune sans titre” (1958). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Rotraut Uecker, “Red Gipsy” (1997). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

The exhibition consists of around one hundred pieces from the Archives Yves Klein of Paris combined with contributions from private Swiss and international collections.  Klein’s work is arranged in an exhibition path that covers three whole floors in the museum.  Beginning with the Anthropométries, painted models impressed on canvasses, the exhibit takes a look back at notable moments over the course of Klein’s short-lived artistic career. Other categories of works include the Reliefs planétaires, canvasses that imitate different surfaces of the Earth, and the well-known Monochromes, paintings in blue pigments which Klein purposely created for this series (known today as IKB or International Klein Blue). Additional works in the exhibit are the Monogolds, the Cosmogonies, the Sculptures éponges, and the Portraits reliefs. As one of the first major retrospectives on Klein’s life and work, the exhibition showcases films and photographs of the artist as well as original documents which follow Klein’s artistic and personal development.

Yves Klein, “Monochrome bleu sans titre” (1957). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Yves Klein was born on April 28, 1928 in Nice to Fred Klein and Marie Raymond, both painters. He studied at the École Nationale de la Marine Marchande and the École Nationale des Langues Orientales from 1942 to 1946. Shortly after his studies, he settled permanently in Paris and began to pursue an artistic career.  One of the original founders of the Nouveau Réalisme movement, Klein is considered to be a leading figure in post-war European art.  He died from a heart attack on June 6, 1992 at the age of 34.

Yves Klein, “Peinture feu couleur sans titre” (1962). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Rotraut Uecker, “Blue Lion” (2009). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Rotraut Uecker, “Rusty Thomas” (2008). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Yves Klein, “Monochrome bleu sans titre” (1961). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Yves Klein, “Victoire de Samotrace” (1962). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

Yves Klein, “Sculpture éponge bleue sans titre” (1960). Via Museo D’Arte Moderna Di Lugano.

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