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with the Archives Yves Klein, retraces this seminal journey through over 150 archive documents, many of them previously unpublished - photographs, correspondence and reproductions of works - illuminated by texts by Terhi Génévrier-Tausti and Denys Riout.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