Paris, France —Yves Klein was a major figure in post-war European art and known for his use of blue in his works. He even developed and patented a color of blue, International Klein Blue. What is less well known about the French artist is that he was an accomplished athlete: he travelled to Japan in 1953 where he became a master of judo receiving the rank of yodan, a 4th degree black-belt, becoming the first European to do so. So starting tomorrow in Paris, Klein, blue and sports are all coming together at the Artcurial auction house on the Champs-Elysées when an exhibition of 16 blue objects followed by a charity auction entitled The Blues Meet the Master of Blue opens its doors. Blue is the official color of all of France’s collective sports teams and they all wear a blue-themed team shirt.

And so just 40 days until the Summer Olympics in Paris and with the Euro soccer cup in full swing, a bright blue world of sport is on display at Artcurial featuring a host of sporting objects in the vivid unmistakeable International Klein Blue. Among them Tony Parker’s Klein blue basket ball, soccer star Zinédine Zidane’s Klein blue shirt and soccer striker Olivier Giroud’s Klein blue cleats. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the French charity Le Sport a du Coeur (sport has a heart) to finance its programs which help people at risk, work towards fighting inequality in access to sports and help athletes in difficulty. The exhibition is on from June 18th until July 26th, Monday to Friday, 11am until 6pm. The auction is to be held on July 1st at 9pm. You can sign up to bid at https://www.artcurial.com/en Artcurial: 7 Rondpoint des Champs-Élysées Marcel-Dassault, 75008 Paris. Tel: + 33 (0)1 42 99 20 20. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette