Produced in collaboration with the Archives Yves Klein, the exhibition ‘Yves Klein,intime’ (‘Yves Klein, intimate’) in Aix-en-Provence is presenting for the first time around sixty works by the Nice-born artist from a fresh perspective. Given the public nature of Klein’s oeuvre and its resolutely spectacular, even mythical qualities, the exhibition explores the complementary personal an dintimate dimensions of the artist’s life and work.

By focusing on the artist’s family origins and circles of friends, his studios, and his relations with his models, the exhibition sets out to highlight the material conditions of the artist’s work and his intellectual processes, spiritual dimension, and the humour often underlying the apparent earnestness of his approach.

Alongside the most emblematic masterpieces—including the Monochrome and Sculpture Éponge (Sponge Sculpture) works, the gilded Monogold paintings, Anthropométries, and Peintures de Feu (Fire Paintings)—, less well-known works will be presented, as well as previously unseen archive material and objects from his studio. Various works by other artists will also be exhibited, as well as collaborative projects, attesting to the friendships and relationships of creative complicity Klein cultivated with colleagues and friends, such as Arman, Christo, Martial Raysse, and Jean Tinguely.