Yves Klein

Article, 2022, Damien Sausset

Japan's influence, text by Damien Sausset, excerpt from the special edition of Connaissance des arts "Yves Klein Intime"

This stay in Japan laid the foundations of a future philosophy applied to art, or more precisely to the surpassing of art.In kodokan judo, one of the branches of judo, Yves Klein found not just a sport, but a way of life and an ethical system based on Zen Buddhism. It is necessary to go beyond the body, in particular through the kiai, a technique in which the judoka concentrates his spiritual energy so intensely that he suddenly releases it through a cry arising from the depths of his being.In...

Article, 2020, Denys Riout

"Yves Klein and Japan", by Denys Riout, excerpt from the book Yves Klein Japan

DREAMS AND ILLUSIONS OF THE ORIENT To learn judo at the Kodokan, the most renowned training centre in Japan, and come back wreathed in glory, possessed of unmatched competence – or nearly: such was the plan of this young man who was trying to find his way between two painter parents. His failure at the baccalauréat had closed the doors to merchant navy school and the prospect of travelling the world as an officer on ocean-going vessels. Enterprising and curious, Yves Klein had stayed in...

Book, 2020

Yves Klein Japan

Before he became Yves le Monochrome, Yves Klein, the man in blue who has become a myth, had a passion for judo. In 1952, this led him to Japan, where he obtained his 4th dan black belt. A few months after his return to France, at the end of 1954, Yves Klein published almost simultaneously Les Fondements du judo and Yves Peintures, considered his first artistic gesture. This long stay in Japan, nourished by encounters and discoveries, undoubtedly left its mark on Yves Klein, who often alludes to it, and continues to fuel the questions of all those interested in his work. Could it be the source of his work?

Following on from Yves Klein USA and Yves Klein Germany, this book, prepared in collaboration with the Archives Yves Klein, retraces this seminal journey through over 150 archive documents, many of them previously unpublished - photographs, correspondence and reproductions of works - illuminated by texts by Terhi Génévrier-Tausti and Denys Riout.

Éditions Dilecta

Book, 2022

The Timeless Imagination of Yves Klein - Uncertainty and the Immateriality

Book, 2020, Riout, Denys

Yves Klein Japon

Before Yves Klein became Yves the Monochrome, the now mythical Man of Blue, he had a passion for judo. In 1952, this fascination took him to Japan, where he obtained a 4th dan black belt. A few months after returning to France, Yves Klein simultaneously published Les Fondements du judo and Yves Peintures – the latter considered as his first public action as an artist. His long stay in Japan, punctuated by encounters and discoveries, certainly made a deep impression on Klein, and it continues to compel all those who are interested in his work.

After Yves Klein USA, this book, produced in collaboration with the Yves Klein Archives, presents about 250 documents, photographs and correspondences, most of them previously unpublished, bearing witness to the close and friendly relationship Yves Klein tied with the German art scene.

Éditions Dilecta