Christie’s announces the sale of the Brooklyn Museum’s Yves Klein sponge relief with an estimate of $7-10m.

Christie’s is proud to offer Accord Bleu (Sponge Relief) an important painted sponge relief, unseen on the market since 1960. Consigned by the Brooklyn Museum, all proceeds from the sale will be directed to the creation of a board-designated fund for the purchase of work by contemporary artists.  Dated from 1958, Accord Bleu (Sponge Relief) is one of the first relief using sponges, a technique which became a metaphor in Klein’s work, as its porous surface completely absorbed his signature ‘IKB’ blue color, giving a material presence to the immaterial. This work is one of the first, small-format sponge reliefs, as designs for the monumental decoration of the Gelsenkirchen theatre in Germany, commissioned in 1958.

Klein- Brooklyn Museum – Nov 2012