Yves Klein

Known for: International Klein Blue monochromes; Le Saut dans le Vide (1960)

Yves Klein developed International Klein Blue — a matte, saturated ultramarine he patented in 1960 — and used it to produce monochrome paintings, sponge sculptures, and body prints made by directing nude women to cover themselves in the pigment and press themselves against canvas. His Le Saut dans le Vide (Leap into the Void, 1960) — a doctored photograph of himself leaping from a Paris building — became one of the most widely reproduced images in postwar art. He died of a heart attack at 34.