Abstract

In this paper we present an interrogation on absence in the artist's space as it is explored notably by Yves Klein in the framework of his exhibition on the immaterial at the Galerie Iris Clert in 1958. For Klein, this is by no means an exhibition of an empty space, but rather a research of sensitivity in a pure state, a question we will approach by examining the conditions of the representation of this sensitivity and by highlighting not only the importance of the material and conceptual frame of this representation, but also the conflict between sensitivity and imagination it encompasses. We will then compare it to the relation to space of another colorist painter, Vincent van Gogh, who does not seek emptiness, but is consumed by the overwhelming presence of the sensuous and who leaves his workshop in favor of the outside world. Ultimately, he leaves us the very different empty space of his room, be it the one in Arles - a place of peace and quiet - or the one in Auvers - the place of his demise. This way, we can access an absence that is in no way a representation, nor a memory, but the artist's definitive silence.