In May 1954, in Madrid, Yves Klein published a very few copies of the Yves Peintures (Yves Paintings). This collection of monochrome plates, today so rare that it becomes mythical, is carried out and printed by the engraving workshop of Fernando de Sarabia in Madrid. The preface, signed by Pascal Claude, is made of black lines instead of the text. The 10 plates in colour are made of self-coloured rectangles cut up in paper, coming with the dimensions in millimeters. Each plate shows a different place of creation, Madrid, Nice, Tokyo, Paris.

This book represents the first public gesture of the artist Yves Klein. This is in itself a work of art through which Yves Klein formulate the question of reproduction in art.

As from 1955, Yves Klein exhibits monochromes of different colours (orange, green, red, yellow, blue, rose) with the same title "Yves Paintings" at the Club des solitaires de Paris ( Club of the Paris solitaries) .

« Yesterday evenning, on Wednesday, we went to an abstracts café [...], some abstracts were there. They are easily recognizable because they give off an atmosphere of abstract paintings and their paintings can be seen in their eyes. Maybe I have illusions, but I have the impression to see all this.  In any case, we are sitting with them  [...]. Then we came to discuss about the book Yves Paintings. Later, I went to take it in the car and I threw it on the table. At the first pages already, the eyes of the abstracts  had changed. Their eyes lit up and in the back appeared some beautiful and pure plain colours . » (Klein, Journal parisien dated January, 13th 1955 / translated from French by elandarts.com)

One original of this extremely rare book has been recently shown to the public during the exhibition « Yves Klein, corps, couleur, immatériel » ( Yves Klein, body, colour, immaterial) at the Pompidou Center (Paris, 2006-2007) then at the Mumok (« Die Blaue Revolution », Vienne, 2007), and at the exhibition « Les Nouveaux Réalistes » (the New Realists at the Grand Palais (Paris, 2007).