Yves Klein Painted Everything Blue and Wasn't Sorry.

by Fausto Gilberti

Overview

A clever, quirky read-aloud biography of a leading modern artist, for kids

Artist Yves Klein always thought about how he could surprise his audience. One day, he decided that he would only paint in one color - blue. He painted canvases, globes, branches, gallery floors, and even covered people in blue paint.

Klein's story is told here with wit and eccentricity, perfectly paired with black-line illustrations and blue splashes galore. Fausto Gilberti brings movement, life, and whimsy to the true life story of one of the most important modern French artists of our time.

Ages 4-7

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838660147
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	09/11/2019
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	719,585
Product dimensions:	8.75(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.37(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Fausto Gilberti is a painter and illustrator based in Brescia, Italy. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and has been part of more than a hundred solo and group exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad. He wrote this book to make contemporary art approachable and enjoyable for his two children.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/28/2019

Meet an artist who invented his own color; painted with fire and smoke, water and wind; raced cockroaches in his spare time; and dressed as a knight at his wedding. Gilberti’s funny and delightful look at the French avant-garde artist Yves Klein begins on the rainy Parisian day that inspired the artist to create his signature shade, international Klein blue. “Yves decided that from then on, he would paint everything in blue!” The story follows Yves’s gonzo, expansive creative practice—covering canvases and bodies in IKB; creating blue cocktails; releasing 1,001 blue balloons; composing a symphony from a single note; and staging photographic illusions. Googly-eyed people with calligraphic arms and spidery fingers keep busy in Gilberti’s delightfully cartoony black, white, and IKB-esque blue illustrations. A singular book about an inspiring charmer: “People around the world remember him not only for his blue paintings but also for the daring ways he chose to create. Bravo, Yves!” Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"An innovative approach to share Klein's rule-breaking and boundary-stretching approach to art... These picture books make contemporary art approachable and enjoyable to young readers... Readers of any age will be drawn to return to the books again and again, as I was."—Unpacking the Power of Picture Books

"Funny and delightful... A singular book about an inspiring charmer."—Publishers Weekly

"Gilberti tells the story of Yves Klein through whimsical line drawings and many splashes of Klein's signature blue."—New York Magazine Strategist

"Fausto Gilberti has managed to bottle the wild spirit of some of the world's greatest artists in his cheekily titled biographical series comprising (to date) Jackson Pollock Splashed Paint and Wasn't Sorry and Yves Klein Painted Everything Blue and Wasn't Sorry. In each book, the Italian author and illustrator combines inky black and white with a single pop of colour (blue for Yves Klein, egg-yolk yellow for Pollock), while his bug-eyed, zany artists recall the Minions from Despicable Me but with art history degrees and sharp suits... The books may end with an example of artwork and a more traditional biography but they're not solely for art-loving children and families; they celebrate individuality and creative self-expression."—The Observer

"I love picture book biographies, and Gilberti has told a great story and included a longer author's note about Yves Klein."—Kiss the Book

"If you are wanting to share with children the way that art develops out of playfulness, creativity, and a little rebellion, these picture books could be just the thing... The book, even from its title, is bold and irreverent, showing that art is made better when it is questioned and stretched beyond what we think is possible... Perfect introductory volumes to artists and the methods in which they created."—Cosmic Bookshelf

From the Publisher