Christie’s Auctions Aiming for Record Sales at Fall Trade Fairs in Paris and London

October is traditionally the month of two of Europe’s most important art fairs—Freeze London and Art Basel Paris—when collectors from around the world flock to both cities. Christie’s auctions are also included in the busy program of established events. The famous auction house usually unveils exceptional pieces for this event. 

The principal evening auction in London is scheduled for October 15th and will feature leading names in Impressionist, Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art, including Lucian Freud, Peter Doig, Paula Rego, Yoshitomo Nara, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Louise Bourgeois, Chris Ofili, Paul Signac, Gerhard Richter, and Pablo Picasso.

Three Paris auctions on October 23rd, 24th, and 26th are expected to generate millions in sales of works by Alberto Giacometti, Paul Signac, Pierre Soulages, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. However, the auction house has scheduled the highlight of the entire series for the very first evening—with a focus on the European avant-garde, it will offer a four-meter canvas by Yves Klein in his characteristic ultramarine blue. 

It was this particular shade that made one of the founders of New Realism famous worldwide. In 1960, he patented the formula for an intense blue symbolizing immateriality and infinity, which he called International Klein Blue. IKB became the artist’s calling card and signature color, and he used it in many future works, especially in his famous Anthropometries, in which he imprinted naked models as “living brushes” on canvas.

Monochrome California (IKB 71) was created in 1961 during a single trip to the USA. One year later, the artist died tragically of a heart attack at the young age of 34.