Pictures from the Place de La Concorde in Paris, including one night tribute to Yves Klein (1928-1962) during the nighty event NUIT BLANCHE 2006 with blue lightnings

International Klein Blue (or IKB as it is known in art circles) was developed by French artist Yves Klein as part of his search for colors which best represented the concepts he wished to convey as an artist. Although Klein had worked with blue extensively in his earlier career, it was not until 1958 that he used it as the central component of a piece (the colour effectively becoming the art). Klein embarked on a series of monochromatic works using IKB as the central theme. These included 'performance art' where Klein painted models' naked bodies and had them walk, roll and sprawl upon blank canvases as well as more conventional single-colour canvases.