The art world is renowned for its eccentricities and, even to the seasoned observer, can feel like walking through a fever dream. It’s perplexing, constantly evolving, and inherently subjective. As an artist myself, I am acutely aware of how odd the world of contemporary art can be.
However, if there’s one constant, it’s that an artist’s name – or brand – has power. The more potent an artist’s brand, the more likely they are to achieve success. That, and a healthy dose of networking.
Case in point: in 2022, a piece of paper sold for $1.2 million at Sotheby’s in Paris.
I should note, I’m not saying an artwork sold for $1.2 million, because no art was actually sold.
The piece of paper in question was a receipt that granted ownership to a particularly unique artwork made by Yves Klein in 1958. This receipt, and the situation as a whole, is an excellent case study for the power of branding.
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Masters, millions, and a pricey piece of paper
Spending a chunk of change on art isn’t a new phenomenon. In fact, millions have been spent in the name of good art (and a good name).
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, for example, achieved a landmark $450.3 million at auction in 2016. This is still, by far, the most expensive piece of art ever sold. Pablo Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger is the closest second, commanding a staggering $179.4 million.
These artworks are masterpieces in their own right and others by renowned artists such as Edvard Munch, Francis Bacon, and Claude Monet have long set the benchmark for artistic value.
Yet, amid these titans, is the receipt.
Comparatively, $1.2 million isn’t astounding if you’re paying for Salvator Mundi, but here’s the kicker…
The receipt is for an artwork that doesn’t exist. In fact, it never did.
How much is “nothing” worth?
Selling art that “breaks the mould” isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, and there have been some modern equivalents.
Banksy’s Girl with Balloon, for example. This was a famous street art piece depicting a young girl reaching up towards a heart-shaped balloon – you know the one.
Banksy put Girl with Balloon up for auction in 2018, and it sold for £1.4 million. As soon as the gavel came down, the artwork began to self-destruct. It lowered itself through a shredder built into the bottom of the frame, cutting it into strips but stopping just in time for the heart-shaped balloon to remain visible. The crowd went wild and the buyer wept (probably). Girl with Balloon has also since been renamed. It is now titled Love is in the Bin.
By the way, the shredding also increased the value of the work, and it sold again in 2021 for £18.6 million.
In 2021 again, an Italian artist by the name of Salvatore Garau sold a piece of work titled Io Sono for $18,300.
Io Sono is an invisible sculpture.
The lucky buyer went home with a certificate of authenticity and a set of instructions. The “sculpture” must be exhibited in a private house in a five-by-five-foot space free of obstruction. When asked about the piece, he said: “It is a work that asks you to activate the power of imagination”.
It certainly does.
The point is that people are not inherently paying for the artwork. They’re paying for the name and for the exclusivity that comes with it. Yves Klein’s receipts are no different.
The void and the vision: Klein’s empty gallery
Yves Klein was a French artist who specialised in the avant-garde, blurring the lines between art and life. In 1958, he staged an exhibition titled Le Vide, or The Void. Klein painted the exterior of the gallery in his trademark self-named colour, International Klein Blue, and he framed the entrance with an enormous blue theatre curtain. There were even Republican guards and blue cocktails.
In the gallery itself, behind a curtain, he placed a single cabinet in an otherwise empty room. The cabinet was built into the wall, with glass panels showcasing an equally empty interior. A mirror, perhaps, of the space it existed in.
To be fair, there were also some curtains covering the door, so perhaps there were two objects in the room. It was a great success, and thousands of visitors showed up to the otherwise empty Parisian gallery.
Shortly after the exhibition, Klein offered collectors the opportunity to buy “zones” in this space in exchange for gold bullion. Was there anything in these zones? The answer may not come as a surprise at this point, but no, there was not.
Each purchase of one of these zones, also called Klein’s Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility, came with a receipt, which he encouraged his buyers to burn as he threw half the gold into the Seine. According to the artist, this act “rebalanced the natural order”.
Few of these receipts exist today, as many buyers were completely on board with feeding the Seine their hard-earned bullion.
Parisian art dealer, Jacques Kugel, opted to hold onto his certificate rather than burn it. In instances where buyers did not want to burn their receipts, Klein used the gold in his Monogolds sculptures.
Waste not, want not – for the natural order, of course.
The name is the game: branding lessons from the art world
I could talk about art all day, but what exactly is my point? It’s simple…
Yves Klein knew what he was doing, and he did it well. Keep in mind, this is a man who invented and named a paint colour after himself. Though his vision may have been outrageous, he built a powerful brand identity.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you like his work. It doesn’t even matter if you like Da Vinci’s or Picasso’s paintings. Their names mean something, and if the art world can teach us anything, it’s that people can really get behind a name.
Ultimately, the sale of the Yves Klein receipt underscores the importance of brand building.
In today’s increasingly saturated market, a business needs a brand that resonates deeply with its customers or clients. Ideally, good branding should express your unique values, tell your story, and help you build genuine connections.
This is something we can help you with.
Get in touch
Here at The Yardstick Agency, we know what it takes to build a good brand. You may not be selling paintings, but what you do is an art.
Talk to us today and let us help you grow your audience, tell your story, and build your brand.
Email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300 to learn more about what we can do for you.
