A 14-foot-wide Yves Klein painting, *California (IKB 71)*, sold at Christie’s Paris for €18.4 million ($21.4 million), setting a new auction record for the artist in France. The work, the largest format Klein made in his signature International Klein Blue, was the cover lot of the house’s *Avant-garde(s) including Thinking Italian* sale and had been in the same New York collection since 2005. Christie’s recently uncovered that the painting stopped in New York en route from Paris to California, where it appeared in a show with dealer Leo Castelli.
The sale matters because it underscores the enduring market strength of Yves Klein’s monochrome works, particularly those in his iconic IKB pigment, and highlights the importance of provenance research in driving auction prices. The record also reflects the continued demand for blue-chip postwar European art at major auction houses, with the painting’s history—including its exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its connection to collector George David—adding to its allure.