The estate of Yves Klein is suing artist Stuart Semple for a parody paint label. Now, we're asking museums to take a stand.

In 2025, British artist Stuart Semple was sued in secret by Yves Klein’s son — over a joke.

He painted his hand blue.
He took a photo.
He made a new ultramarine paint.
He called it Easy Klein — a tongue-in-cheek nod to Calvin Klein, not Yves Klein. It was a parody. A concept. A piece of art.

But the Klein Estate wasn’t amused.

Even though they don’t sell artist paints, and Semple’s formula is entirely different, they’re suing him for trademark infringement. Not for copying artwork. Not for stealing a colour. Just for referencing a name — Klein — in a conceptual artwork.

Semple didn’t even know he’d been sued until the judgment arrived from a Paris court. He is now fighting to appeal the case under the European Convention on Human Rights, citing:

Freedom of expression
Fair use and artistic parody
The right to a fair trial
Meanwhile, the Klein Estate continues to profit from international exhibitions, claim moral authority, and use their platform to silence younger artists — in direct contradiction to Klein’s radical legacy.

🧠 Why This Matters
Yves Klein was a provocateur. He patented a colour. He made invisible artworks. He painted with fire and bodies.

His art was about freedom — not control.

And yet his name is now a trademark. His legacy is being policed like a brand. And the institutions displaying his work are complicit — until they speak out.

 
🛑 Our Demands:
We call on Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, MoMA, Guggenheim, and major museums around the world to:

Publicly address the lawsuit against Stuart Semple
Temporarily suspend all Klein exhibitions and displays until the legal action is dropped
Host public programming on the ethics of trademark, parody, and legacy in art
 
📢 This Is Bigger Than One Artist
This is about every artist’s right to critique, parody, and remix culture — without being dragged through courts by powerful estates.

If museums don’t stand up for freedom of expression, they become museums of monopoly.

 
🔗 Sources
Stuart Semple Says Yves Klein’s Estate Is Suing Him for Using the Name ‘Easy Klein’ – Artnet News

 
✍️ Add your voice
Help us protect the right to make art without fear.
Help us stop the corporate takeover of creative expression.

Sign the petition now. Share it widely. Reclaim the blue.

#shareTheBlue