{{Short description|French painter}} {{Infobox artist | name = Fred Klein | image = Fred klein.png | caption = Klein in 1988 | birth_name = Friedrich Franz Albert Klein | birth_date = 8 April 1898 | birth_place = Bandung, Dutch East Indies | death_date = 25 April 1990 | death_place = 16th arrondissement of Paris, France | other_names = Frits Klein | spouse = {{marriage|Marie Raymond|1926|1961|end=div}} <br/> Ursula Bardsley<!--Q19543903--> | children = Yves Klein }} '''Friedrich Franz Albert Klein''' (8 April 1898 &ndash; 25 April 1990), known as '''Fred Klein''', was a Dutch painter who spent much of his life in France.

==Biography== Klein was born on 8 April 1898 in Bandung, Dutch East Indies (present-day, Indonesia).<ref name="Stedelijk">{{cite web |title=Yves Klein and His Artist Family |url=https://stedelijkmuseumschiedam.nl/en/tentoonstelling/yves-klein-and-his-artist-family/ |website=Stedelijk Museum Schiedam |access-date=9 April 2026 |location=Schiedam, Netherlands |date=2026}}</ref> In 1903, aged 5, Klein's family moved to the Netherlands.<ref name="Stedelijk"/>

He lived and worked in France beginning in 1920. His style was somewhat akin to Impressionism. A figurative painter of landscapes, he had exhibitions starting in 1930. He is known for his frequent depiction of horses and dreamy beach scenes. Dutch critics admired his work as did French ones, who often compared him to Odilon Redon. "[Klein] starts from a dream of colors from which the motif gradually takes shape. Notwithstanding he still reverts to reality with this, albeit a dreamed up reality," one review concluded.<ref>[http://fred.klein.pagesperso-orange.fr/fritsklein2007b.pdf - "Almost Forgotten," article in Tableau Fine Arts magazine]</ref>

Klein's work was included in the 1939 exhibition and sale ''Onze Kunst van Heden'' (Our Art of Today) at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.<ref name="Beeldend BeNeLux Elektronisch">{{cite web |title=Onze kunst van heden, 1939 - |url=https://www.artindex.nl/lexicon/default.asp?id=6&num=0933300087065090752012317007880100303300&relt=3001&limit=no&in= |website=Beeldend BeNeLux Elektronisch (Lexicon) |access-date= 11 January 2021}}</ref>

On his 80th birthday, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam held a retrospective of his work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frits Klein {{!}} Dolf D. van Omme {{!}} 19th - 21st Century European Fine Arts |url=http://www.dolfvanomme.nl/en/collection/artist/frits_klein/32 |website=www.dolfvanomme.nl}}</ref> In recent years, there has been renewed interest in his paintings, leading to a spike in prices.<ref>[http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/frits-klein-horses/2082641/lot/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=8&intObjectID=2082641&sid=cf94fa28-8c8b-48fa-bbda-2a1266b4eb4e&page=2 Recent auctions at Christie's]</ref>

==Personal life== In 1926, Klein married the French painter Marie Raymond before later divorcing in 1961.<ref name="Delarge Raymond">{{cite book |last1=Delarge |first1=Jean-Pierre |title=Dictionnaire des arts plastiques modernes et contemporains |date=2012 |publisher=Éditions Gründ |location=Paris, France |url=https://www.ledelarge.fr/5269_artiste_RAYMOND_Marie |access-date=9 April 2026 |language=fr |chapter=RAYMOND, Marie}}</ref> Klein and Raymond had one son, the painter Yves Klein.<ref name="Delarge Raymond"/>

Klein later married the British painter Ursula Bardsley<!--Q19543903-->.

==References== {{Reflist|2}} *"Almost Forgotten," article in Tableau Fine Arts magazine by Willemijn Gertsen *Based on a translation of the entry for Fred Klein in the French Wikipedia

==External links== *https://isidoor2.wixsite.com/fred-klein Site devoted to Fred Klein] (with text available in English, French and Dutch) *[http://www.dolfvanomme.nl/nl/collectie/kunstenaar/frits_klein/32 Biography of Klein on Dutch gallery website] *[http://fred.klein.pagesperso-orange.fr/fritsklein2007b.pdf Article in Dutch and English on Klein, the "almost forgotten" artist] *[http://fred.klein.pagesperso-orange.fr/page12.html Beach paintings by Klein] *[http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/frits-klein-horses/2082641/lot/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=8&intObjectID=2082641&sid=cf94fa28-8c8b-48fa-bbda-2a1266b4eb4e&page=2 2001 auction of Klein "Horses" painting] *[https://harn.dse.nl/index.htm/ Dutch site devoted to Fred Klein]

{{Yves Klein|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Fred}} Category:1898 births Category:1990 deaths Category:People from Bandung Category:Dutch painters Category:Dutch male painters Category:20th-century French painters Category:20th-century French male artists Category:French male painters Category:Yves Klein

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