International Klein Blue is Still Alive
Yves Klein was a French painter who lived during the mid 1900’s. His work was associated with the short New Realism era and consisted of many monochrome, Ultramarine pieces primarily during the 1950’s. A large portion of his work was abstract style paintings and he later on incorporated performance art into his practice. According to Theartstory.org, Klein’s love for using one single color evolved from looking at the sky and realizing how endless and mysterious it was. He adopted the desire to continue his art practice only using blue for many years. He was so dedicated to this specific shade of Ultramarine blue, that he then developed the ultimate perfect shade of blue with the help of chemists and named it after himself, International Klein Blue. The monochrome blue became associated with Klein and almost iconic in a way.
A striking and unforgettable performance piece that Klein did in 1960 was titled Anthropometries. This piece consisted of naked women being used as a human paintbrushes and pressing their blue paint covered bodies against the gallery wall to make an imprint in front of a live audience. This artwork is very popular and generally people who know of Yves Klein, know of this specific work since it was so monumental.
Fast-forward to October 2016 where designer Phoebe Philo, of the high fashion house Celine, debuts her spring/summer 2017 womenswear collection at Paris Fashion Week. In her show, Philo uses a replica of Klein’s imprints on two of the total forty-two looks. They consisted of white dresses with the blue imprint of a woman’s body printed on them. Additionally, there is another white dress that is dip-dyed and a pair of monochrome trousers, which are also the classic International Klein Blue color. Clearly, directly inspired and replicated from Klein’s work, it is interesting to think about how this sense of representation works in both the art and fashion world. Klein’s work has now been appropriated and used on fashion designs, but how does that affect the authorship of the situation? Are these almost identical imprints to be considered Philo’s work, and only directly inspired by Klein? Or does Klein still hold authorship for his creations although they are being used on new creations?
Personally I find this extremely interesting, and a topic that could be debated in circles, depending on who you’re talking to. It is even hard for me to come to a conclusion with my feelings about a topic like this. Ultimately I believe that Yves Klein deserves one hundred percent of the recognition, but Phoebe Philo did successfully appropriate this artwork on her clothing that she created. I guess I don’t even have a full committed answer to how I feel about both the artist’s and designer’s authorship in this specific situation. Celine is a French ready-to-wear collection so it makes sense that the designer would look to French history and previous culture for inspiration, but when is inspiration taken too far? I am curious to know how Yves Klein would feel if he were alive today to witness this. Who knows, maybe it would have been a willing and successful collaboration with Philo and Klein.
