Is the popular Klein blue a magic weapon for making whiter skin appear brighter, or does it make yellow look even more yellow?

57 years ago, an art exhibition was held in Milan, Italy, known as the world's fashion and art center. At the exhibition, eight paintings of similar size with eye-catching blue panels attracted the attention of the visitors.

Image source: Wikipedia

Depth, purity, sky, ocean...people's imaginations are nothing more than this.

And this is when Klein Blue was born.

Yves Klein probably never imagined that in the 21st century, the Klein blue he "created" would frequently appear on people's shopping lists.

01

What kind of blue is Klein Blue?

Klein Blue is named after the pop artist Yves Klein, who was one of the four artists who made the greatest contribution to world art in the second half of the 20th century, along with Andy Warhol, Duchamp and Beuys.

Image source: Wikipedia

Klein believed that the simplest colors could evoke the strongest telepathy.

So, when artists were competing to paint in colorful colors, Klein chose to return to monochrome. He said: "To express this feeling, there is no need for explanation or language, and it can be felt by the heart."

The RGB ratio of Klein Blue (one of the most widely used color systems, R-red, G-green, B-blue, the corresponding three values ​​represent the color values ​​of red, green and blue respectively) is 0:47:167. If any of these three values ​​is wrong, it cannot represent Klein Blue.

In Klein's view, blue itself symbolizes the sky and the ocean, and indicates that there is no boundary. Klein blue has the attribute of "incomparable purity", so it is difficult to find a matching color, and it has successfully ascended the throne of "ideal and absolute blue".

02

The Birth and History of Klein Blue

Yves Klein had a very thorough understanding of the color blue.

He believes: "Blue is the essential color of the universe, because the sky, water, and air are blue, so blue naturally also means freedom, life, and infinity."

Based on this understanding, in 1956, Klein and materials merchant Edward Adam tried to combine ultramarine powder and synthetic resin Rhodopas M60A, and finally formulated Klein Blue.

In 1960, this blue was unveiled at the Milan Art Exhibition. At the same time, Klein also registered a patent for it - "International Klein Blue" IKB.

After this, Klein began to frequently use this blue in his artistic creations.

In 1957, 1,001 blue balloons flew into the sky at the Aerostatic Sculptures exhibition. The crowd was amazed and looked up at the sky, leaving a historic moment. Klein also painted the entire sky Klein blue in his own exhibition.

Imagine these are blue balloons. Image source: Wikipedia

In 1958, Klein held another exhibition called "Empty", which was exactly as its name suggested: it was completely empty. Although the entrance was magnificent, visitors found that there was no decoration or service staff when they entered the exhibition hall, only the free blue gin stood there alone.

The overwhelmed audience could only drink more to cover up their embarrassment, until the end, when a drunk audience member saw the "Klein Blue" in the bathroom.

Of course, among Klein's series of artistic creations, the "Anthropometry" series is the most famous one. Klein painted Klein blue on female models and then asked them to paint on the canvas with their bodies.

One of the works in the series "Anthropometry", image source: Wikipedia

Although Klein's behavior made many female artists very dissatisfied, he still won the attention of the public and gained influence. From the invention of Klein Blue to his death in 1962, it took only seven years for Klein to establish his position in the art world.

The year was 2007, the 50th anniversary of Klein Blue. To commemorate this day, Dior, Givenchy, Bruno Pieters, and almost the entire fashion industry, and even brands in the fields of home furnishings and automobiles, all rushed to use Klein Blue, and the brand world became dominated by Klein Blue.

Off-White 2021 Fall/Winter Show, Image Source: Wikipedia

03

Klein's method of revealing

With the fashion storm set off by Klein Blue, the calls for "Klein makes whiter yyds" have become more and more frequent.

Putting the arm against a gray background, the skin color is visibly dark, with a hint of green that does not belong to the mortal world in the dark yellow; moving it against a Klein blue background, it instantly turns into glowing cold white skin.

It’s a pity that this “universal whitening method” unique to Klein blue can only exist in photos and videos.

Tadpole can only say that the human eye is too sensitive and can easily restore Klein Blue to its original form - making white whiter and black blacker. After all, as an "absolute blue", Klein's bright color will make all other colors look extremely dim.

Teacher Luo Wen at the concert is the best example. In the era when cameras cannot automatically adjust colors, Klein Blue can only produce this effect.

So, although Klein blue is popular, this highly saturated, cool-toned, fluorescent color is not something that most people can handle.

END

Review expert: Sun Yafei, Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tsinghua University.

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo