International Klein Blue - French Patent 63471

[holmburgers]

If you've ever taken a modern art introductory class in college, you're probably familliar with IKB, or Yves Klein's "International Klein Blue". It is a pure blue pigment suspended in a special binder that makes it appear as brilliant as the dry pigment by itself.

He invented the paint with the help of chemists by suspending pure, dry pigment in crystal-clear synthetic resin and compatible solvents. Unlike traditional binders, the new colorless carrier did not dull the individual particles of pigment, but left them with their original brightness and intensity. The novel medium was versatile enough to be brushed, sprayed, rolled, or even thickened and built up on a surface. It quickly dried to a fragile-looking but durable matte finish that, like velvet, offered a plush, light-absorbent surface that seemed to dissolve into a dark, glowing liquid depth.

He used this to paint large canvases with nothing but the paint, as well as covering sculptures with it. He also covered nude models (very attractive ones I might add) with it and had them fling themselves upon canvases to create his "anthropometries".

Anyways, whether this kind of thing is for you is beside the point; what is indisputable is the color and it's extreme brilliancy. I would like to make carbon prints that have the same look.

By most accounts, the pigment is probably Pigment Blue 29; Ultramarine Blue.

Here is a really interesting read about the conception of this paint, and raises questions about whether it should be called "Adam's Blue", after Edouard Adams, the true tinkerer who discovered the method.

Here's a particularly saucy excerpt (the rest of the article isn't nearly as brash as this paragraph might suggest):

For by 1955 (and certainly by 1960), Klein had turned himself into a commodity. He made pictures by getting naked models - pinceaux vivants - to roll on fabric while smeared in IKB: "It took a long, long time to get those girls clean," says Edouard Adam, with a roguish wink. In April 1958, Klein had held the notorious first night of his show, Le Vide ("The Void"), which members of France's Republican Guard were hoodwinked into attending in full dress uniform. Guests were fed on a cocktail - mixed, naturally, by La Coupole - made up of gin, Cointreau and a dye called methylene blue. As Klein had hoped, they pissed IKB for a week.

Long story short, apparently you can buy this paint via http://www.adam18.com/beaux-arts/couleurs-alkydes.htm.

For a carbon printer though, the binder would be unnecessary and yet I'm wondering if the quality of finish would be destroyed or retained by mixing it with gelatin.

If anyone can share the French patent, I would love to see it.

[Michael R 1974]

Interesting. A family member of mine was actually at an original "monotone symphony" performance (which included Yves Klein leading hot models covered in IKB around and placing them against a large upright canvas to transfer the paint. As an aside, his monotone symphony was indeed one single note played continuously by a small string orchestra to accompany the "painting" process. There is a famous photograph of one of these performances in which you can clearly see the string players with very unimpressed looks on their faces.

It's a fairly strong purple-blue when you see these things live in museums so an ultramarine shade is probably on the right track. Remember though that acrylics were in their infancy at the time, and so what looked comparatively intense at the time is not quite as novel today. There are a variety of pigments with a high enough natural chroma to accomplish this.

Sorry I don't have more chemistry to offer on this but I was just excited to see a reference to IKB.

[holmburgers]

Hey Michael, that's very cool about your family member. I doubt that a lot of people can make that claim. Yeah, Yves seems to have been an early practitioner of "celebrity as art" in a similar way to Andy Warhol; having one's persona more important than the "works" (though I'd be willing to get in a heated debate with myself about this point.. )

Hilarious about the string players...

Also, good point about acrylics.