The year was 1961 and the location was the rather unexceptional North Rhine-Westphalian town of Krefeld. The event, however, was something to behold, as the town’s Museum Haus Lange hosted Yves Klein: Monochrome und Feuer, the only Klein retrospective in his lifetime.

The exhibition was created in three monochrome rooms focusing on bringing together “the mystical trilogy of blue, gold and rose”, and it featured many of the greatest works Klein ever created. Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) and Rélief éponge bleu (RE 51) were prominent works in the exhibition; and 50 years after the artist’s death and 51 years since the renowned exhibition, both of these masterworks headline at Wednesday’s 'Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening' auction at Christie’s in London (7 pm).

Le Rose du blue (RE 22) (pictured above left) is expected to fetch in the region of GBP 17-20 million, with Rélief éponge bleu (RE 51) (above right) GBP 6-9 million, but highlighting the quality of the auction, they are separated price-wise by three further outstanding works, one each by Francis bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Gerhard Richter. Richter’s 1989 Struktur (2) (below left) is a huge abstract work inspired by the period of change in Europe that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall. Part of four works created in the artist’s Struktur series, it carries a pre-sale estimate of GBP 9-12 million.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (GBP 15 million, below right) is a fascinating montage-like work depicting numerous boxing legends, such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Casius Clay and Joe Louis, though it is the self-portrait of Basquiat that counts as the centre point of the composition.