International Klein Blue

International Klein Blue
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#002FA7
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(0, 47, 167)
HSV (h, s, v)	(223°, 100%, 65%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(26, 83, 263°)
Source	[Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

For the Australian rock band named after this color, see Yves Klein Blue.

International Klein Blue (IKB) is a deep blue hue first mixed by the French artist Yves Klein. IKB's visual impact comes from its heavy reliance on Ultramarine, as well as Klein's often thick and textured application of paint to canvas.

History

Synthetic ultramarine, similar to that used in IKB pigment.

International Klein Blue (or IKB as it is known in art circles) was developed by French artist Yves Klein as part of his search for colors which best represented the concepts he wished to convey as an artist. IKB was developed by Klein and chemists to have the same color brightness and intensity as dry pigments, which it achieves by suspending dry pigment in polyvinyl acetate, a synthetic resin marketed in France as Rhodopas M or M60A by the firm Rhône Poulenc.

While it is often said that the method for creating International Klein Blue was patented by the artist, this is not entirely true. Klein's 1961 patent had little to do with the chemical composition of the color, instead describing a method by which Klein was able to distance himself from the physical creation of his paintings by remotely directing models covered in the color.

Usage in Yves Klein's art

Although Klein had worked with blue extensively in his earlier career, it was not until 1958 that he used it as the central component of a piece (the color effectively becoming the art). Klein embarked on a series of monochromatic works using IKB as the central theme. These included performance art where Klein painted models' naked bodies and had them walk, roll and sprawl upon blank canvases as well as more conventional single-color canvases.

International Klein Blue in culture

• In the novel Zero History by William Gibson, the character Hubertus Bigend has a suit made of material in IKB. In the novel he states that he wears this because the intensity of the color frequently makes other people uncomfortable, and because he is amused by the difficulty of reproducing the color on a computer monitor.
• Yves Klein Blue, an Australian rock band, take their name from the color.
• In 1982 Danish rock band Kliche released an instrumental named International Klein Blue : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4jnYvF1XHw&feature=related

See also

• List of colors

External links

• Yves Klein's "Klein Blue" painting at the Tate Gallery
• SFMOMA | Collections Access Online | Yves Klein | IKB74
• International-Klein-Blue.com
• Yves Klein's "Blue Monochrome" at NYMOMA
• History of International Klein Blue at Imprint
• International Klein Blue at Thalo Magazine