yves klein's blue coats iconic inverted heart guerlain fragrance

L’Heure Bleue 110 anniversary yves klein edition

To celebrate 110 years of its mythical L’Heure Bleue fragrance, Guerlain has collaborated with Yves Klein Archives to unveil a limited edition of 30 unique pieces worldwide. The iconic inverted heart bottle, designed by Raymond Guerlain in 1912, has been tucked in a matte finish of the artist’s emblematic blue, patented as ‘IKB’. The letters IKB stand for International Klein Blue, a characteristic ultramarine that Klein trademarked in 1957. For him, this hue bore an intangible quality that reflects chromatic purity and creative freedom enhancing immaterial values beyond what can be seen or touched. ‘Enlivened by a quest to ‘liberate colour from the prison that is the line,’ Yves Klein based his work on the expression of a feeling, driven by a belief that ultramarine blue was the only way to ‘make visible the absolute’. The distinctive bluer-than-blue hue emits bright waves that not only catches the viewer’s gaze but, as they mention, ‘allow us to see with our souls’.

International Klein Blue is one of the most famous painters’ patented colours, developed by Yves Klein in collaboration with Edouard Adam, a Parisian art paint supplier, six decades ago. IKB employs a matte, artificial resin binder that extracts the colour resulting in maximum maintenance of pigment and colour intensity. Klein had worked vastly with blue from the beginning of his career. However, it was not until 1958 that he used it as the central theme of his artwork. Klein launched a series of monochromatic works using IKB as the protagonist; as part of a live performance, the French artist choreographed female models who applied his paint to their naked bodies and then had them walk and roll on blank canvas spread on the wall and on the floor. The Yves signature blue was followed by the ‘blackest black ink,’ also known as ‘blink’ created by British artist Stuart Semple last year. The matte ink was planned to be used for pen and ink work, calligraphy, paint markers, and brush pens. Another patented colour, the world’s whitest paint, was unveiled in 2021 by a team of engineers from Purdue University in Indiana. Some months later, the researchers made some changes to the formula, producing a thinner and lighter version that is ideal for casting heat away from cars, trains, and airplanes. the bottle becomes a sculpture adorned with a monochrome purity | all images by Guerlain

Turning a bottle into an icon of modern art

On the occasion of the 110 years of L’Heure Bleue fragrance, the French perfume house offers the fragrance in a prestigious limited edition, created together with Yves Klein Archives (see more here). The flacon’s intricate shape, which is delivered in a 1.5-liter format, is turned into an artwork. Alluring curves embrace the matte, velvety finish of the artist’s famous blue monochrome. ‘Blue has no dimensions, it is beyond dimensions, whereas the other colours are not,’ shared by the late Yves Klein.

The bottle sees the marriage of two stunning blues, the L’Heure Bleue and Yves Klein’s vibrant ultramarine, exuding a charming fragrance trail of fresh and warm nuances. Limited to 30 pieces, the sleek series comes at a price of £13,500 GBP ($15,000) per each. Entirely handcrafted by an artisan, each of the samples is unique with a scent that blends bergamot, anise, neroli, and tuberose. The bottle is entirely coated with IKB, first applied with a brush. Then, it is spraypainted with several layers of Yves blue to obtain the same smooth finish as the artist’s monochrome sculptures. ‘The sun has set, but night has not yet fallen. It’s the suspended hour… the hour when one finally finds oneself in renewed harmony with the world and the light,’ Jacques Guerlain commented in a statement in 1912.

the iconic ‘inverted heart’ bottle is illustrated with Yves blue ‘Blue suggests the sea and sky, and they, after all, are in actual, visible nature what is most abstract,’ Yves Kleinalluring curves embrace the matte finish of the signature blue monochrome