YVES KLEIN (1928-1962)
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The Dying Slave, after Michelangelo
1962-92
Dry blue pigment IKB in synthetic resin on plaster
Height : 60 cm (23.6 in.)
Signed, numbered and titled on a label affixed to the underside of the base. This work was conceived in 1962 and cast in 1992 in an edition of 300, plus 50HC, edited by the Yves Klein Archives.
Literature: – J.-P. Ledeur, Yves Klein, Catalogue raisonné des éditions et sculptures éditées, Knokke-le-Zoute 2000, no. S20 (another cast illustrated in colour p. 248) – P. Wember, Yves Klein, Cologne 1969, no. S20 (another cast illustrated p. 98) – Yves Klein, exh. cat., Bern, Kunsthalle Bern, 1971 (another cast illustrated, p. 105) – S. Stich, Yves Klein, Stuttgart 1994, no. 113 (another cast illustrated in colour, p. 247) – Yves Klein, Lugano, Museo d’Arte della Città di Lugano, 2009 (another cast illustrated in colour, p. 181.)
It took Michelangelo three years, from 1513 to 1515 to create this sculpture, usually known as The Dying Slave, for the tombstone of Pope Jules II. This tragic and grandiose figure could not fail to appeal to Yves Klein. It was to be the artist’s final creation that appropriated museum and antique pieces. (J.-P. Ledeur, Yves Klein, Catalogue raisonné des éditions et sculptures éditées, p.250)