The Pink Blue Painting That Set Yves Klein's Auction Record

Yves Klein's Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) (1960) sold for $36.72m (£23.56m) at Christie's London on June 27, 2012. The work, dry pigment in synthetic resin natural sponges and pebbles on board, had been traded three times before.

In 1961, what proved to be Klein's first and only retrospective during his lifetime opened at a museum in Krefeld, Germany. The French artist's monumental sponge painting, Le Rose du bleu (RE 22), was given special prominence, dominating the exhibition's "pink room". There were also blue room and gold rooms, reflecting the artist's deep and spiritual interest in these colors, above all blue, his signature color, as the work's title the pink of blue suggests.

Klein's previous auction record was set by FC1 (Fire Color 1) (1962), which sold for $36.48m at Christie's on May 8, 2012. The work had been traded once before.

To create his radical "fire" works, Klein received special permission to use the testing center of the company Gaz de France. The artist used vast flames of gas burners in its experimental laboratory to transform the surface of his paintings, leaving dramatic traces of fire.

A Brief History of Yves Klein at Auction