«California,» a blue monochrome painting by Yves Klein, sold for a record €18.4 million at a Christie’s auction in Paris.
The four-meter-long work is the artist’s largest painting and one of the few to have a title. Klein completed it in 1961 and dedicated it to the state of California, where the piece was first exhibited.
When Klein died in 1962, «California» entered the collection of Swiss art collector Georges Marci. In 2005, it was purchased by Pace Gallery in New York. The painting was exhibited several times, including on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
According to Christie’s and the Yves Klein Foundation, before the auction, the painting had been in New York, where it was shown by the legendary art dealer Leo Castelli and later exhibited in Los Angeles.
The painting was the star lot in the avant-garde art section of the auction, with an estimate between €16 million and €25 million. According to ARTnews, it was sold from the collection of George David, the former head of United Technologies, who supported numerous exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Van Gogh to Jasper Johns.
Some experts have drawn parallels between Klein’s «California» and Kazimir Malevich’s famous «Black Square,» which became a symbol of pure art in the 20th century. Painted using the deep blue pigment now known as International Klein Blue, «California» stands as a manifesto of simplicity, color and form.
