Khaberni - A monochrome blue painting by French artist Yves Klein was sold for 18.4 million euros (over 21 million dollars) on Thursday, according to Christie's auction house, marking the highest price for one of his works in France.
Christie's added that the painting "California IKB 71 (IKB 71)", measuring four meters in width and nearly two meters in height, is the largest monochrome painting by the artist in private ownership.
Klein, who died in 1962 at just 34 years old, patented the ultramarine thick paint he developed for his paintings, which he named "International Klein Blue" or "IKB".
The artist said that all his monochrome paintings are unlike each other, and that they have "a completely different essence and atmosphere", according to Christie's.
Klein painted "California" in early 1961, shortly before his first and last trip to the United States to attend his debut exhibitions on the other side of the Atlantic, in New York and Los Angeles, according to the auction house.
Klein attached a number of small pebbles to the surface of the painting, making it "reminiscent of the seabed beneath a blue ocean abyss," according to the auction house's description.
In 2013, a sculpture shaped like a flower made from blue sponges attached to a metal stem and stone base by Klein was sold for $22 million at Sotheby's auction house in New York, breaking the record price for his works at a public auction.
The artist once explained that his inspiration for his work "Untitled Blue Sponge Sculpture" was simply his observation of the beauty of the blue color in the sponge he himself had used in his studio while painting.
