Yves Klein used naked women as ‘human paintbrushes’ to make his Anthropometry paintings, which were produced as elaborate performances in front of an audience. Klein, in bow-tie and suit, would conduct the women as they covered themselves in paint (a colour he patented as ‘International Klein Blue’) and made imprints of their bodies. During the performance musicians played his Klein's Monotone Symphony – a single note played for twenty minutes, followed by twenty minutes of silence.
TateShots talked to Elena Palumbo-Mosca, who modelled for Klein, and who appears in footage of one such performance which was shown in the exhibition A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance, at Tate Modern.
