Iris Clert ( el, Ίρις Αθανασιάδη; Iris Athanasiadi; 1917 – 1986) was a Greek-born art gallery owner and curator. She owned the

Galerie Iris Clert The Iris Clert Gallery (''Galerie Iris Clert'' in French) was an art gallery named after its Greek owner and curator, Iris Clert. The single-room gallery The Iris Clert Gallery (Galerie'' Iris Clert'' in French) was an art gallery named after i ...

in Paris from 1955 to 1971. During its tenure, her gallery became an avant-garde hotspot in the international art scene, particularly to Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely and

Arman Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French-born American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') to ...

. Originally of Greek nationality, Clert moved to Paris in the 1930s. She became active in the French Resistance during the Second World War. In 1961, Clert invited

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

, who would become one of the forerunners of the Neo-Dada movement, to participate in an exhibition at the gallery, in which artists were to create and display a portrait of Clert. Rauschenberg proceeded to send a telegram to the Gallery, containing the words "This is a portrait of Iris Clert if I say so/ Robert Rauschenberg". This turned out to be a seminal piece for Rauschenberg, signifying a step away from the Dadaist work of Marcel Duchamp and Jasper Johns - which tended to focus on the role of the ''observer'' in applying meaning to a work of art - and towards a more active role of the ''creator'' in defining art's meaning. In 1978, Clert published her autobiography titled ''Iris-time: l'artventure''.Clert, Iris (1978). ''Iris-time: l'artventure''. Paris: Denoël.

References

The Formidable Blue Stamp of Yves Klein
by John Held Jr.

References

Further reading