Exhibition invitation: YVES, Propositions Monochromes (opens 31 May 1957).
Illus. & text printed in International Klein Blue. Single folded sheet (folded: 167 x 103 mm.; unfolded: 294 x 206 mm.). Düsseldorf: Galerie Schmela, 1957.
An iconic Yves Klein (1928-62) invitation, adorned with a panel of his famed IKB; WorldCat records only the example at the Museo Reina Sofía. It was made by Galerie Schmela to mark the artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany, which came right after his double presentation at Galerie Iris Clert and Galerie Colette Allendy in Paris. The Düsseldorf gallery’s proprietor, Alfred Schmela (1918-80), dean of postwar German art dealers, inaugurated his premises with Klein’s show of monochromes in different colors.
In addition to the IKB illustration, there is a text (“La Minute de Vérité”) by critic and philosopher Pierre Restany (1930-2003), one of Klein’s foremost advocates. It faces a concise biography for the artist and a mention that the present exhibition was organized in concert with Iris Clert of Paris.
This rare piece of exhibition ephemera is in excellent condition. Galerie Schmela also produced a separate poster for this exhibition, which is documented on the Yves Klein Archive website. The present invitation, however, is not found among the many documents reproduced on the site.
|| Karl Ruhrberg, ed., Alfred Schmela: Galerist - Wegbereiter der Avantgarde (1996), pp. 25-27 (pictured p. 25).
Yves Klein Archive website (accessed March 2026).
Price: $1,750.00
Item ID: 11340
