Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeWrapped Reichstag Photo Edition 4/12
About the Item
- Creator:Christo and Jeanne-Claude (1935 - 2020, Bulgarian, Moroccan, American)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.99 in (66 cm)Width: 38.59 in (98 cm)Depth: 0.2 in (5 mm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:PARIS, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2506213730382
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Motivated solely by a mission to spread joy and celebrate beauty through their work, Christo and Jeanne-Claude (1935–2020; 1935–2009) created riveting large-scale public art installations that pushed ephemeral art to an entirely unprecedented new level. While the pair created prints, photography and a range of other types of art, they’re best known for their installations — working with a combination of textiles and industrial materials, Christo and Jeanne-Claude created colossal site-specific sculptures and other projects that frequently included wrapping monuments, walkways and even coastlines in reams of fabric in order to draw attention and encourage viewers to experience familiar objects and places in entirely new ways.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude frequently incorporated nature’s forces into their works, creating billowing fence lines, enormous inflatable free-standing structures and colorful floating walkways. Partners in life and art, the pair designed installations that often took years or even decades to realize and lasted for only days or weeks. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s preparatory works and detailed drawings and collages are today a testament to their intricate ephemeral masterpieces and legacy.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s stories, incredibly, began on the exact same day — on June 13, 1935, Christo Vladimirov Javacheff was born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and on the very same day in Casablanca, Morocco, Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon was born. While Jeanne-Claude received a broad education and a baccalauréat in Latin and philosophy, growing up in France, Switzerland, Morocco and Tunisia, Christo studied art from the age of six years old. He went on to study painting, drawing, architecture and sculpture at the National Academy of Art in Sofia before leaving Bulgaria to escape the Hungarian Revolution.
Christo spent time in Prague before a brief stint at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, moving on then to Geneva and ultimately France. He made money by painting portraits for wealthy families. After being hired by Jeanne-Claude’s mother to paint three portraits of her, Christo met his future wife and collaborator. The pair created their first environmental installation, Dockside Packages and Stacked Oil Barrels, in 1961.
Together, Christo and Jeanne-Claude pursued increasingly ambitious projects, proposing to wrap everything from trees in Wrapped Trees, Foundation Beyeler and Berower Park, Riehen, Switzerland, 1997-98 to important public buildings including the Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971–95. They also created free-standing abstract sculptures such as the 5,600 Cubicmeter Package, billowing curtains such as Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970–72, and proposed installations in locations as far-flung as Dubai and Japan. These projects and others have been linked to the Pop art-adjacent nouveau réalisme movement.
Classically trained in drawing, Christo created preparatory sketches and collages for the projects, selling his artwork to independently fund the monumental temporary installations the pair erected. Meanwhile, Jeanne-Claude advocated for the pair’s artwork, speaking at public forums, sending proposals to municipal governments, and using her unique combination of compelling charm and stoic stubbornness to get their projects approved.
Devoted to their ideals of spreading joy and beauty, the pair accepted no commissions or commercial collaborations — all their installations were funded purely by the sale of their preparatory art. The last of their realized urban works, that 2005 project invited New Yorkers to go for a glorious walk through 7,503 saffron-fabric-draped portals along the pathways of Central Park. More than 4 million people did.
Christo’s wrapped sculptures, which he began making early in his career, as well as his preparatory works, are held in the permanent collections of museums and other institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre Pompidou. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009, and Christo continued to realize the pair’s planned projects until his own passing in 2020.
Find original Christo and Jeanne-Claude photography, mixed media works, sculptures and prints on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Beirut, Lebanon
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- SurrealLocated in PARIS, FRPatrick Hughes (born 20 October 1939) is a British artist working in London. He is the creator of "reverspective", an optical illusion on a 3-dimensional surface where the parts of t...Category
2010s Interior Paintings
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Inkjet
- Great WallLocated in PARIS, FRPatrick Hughes (born 20 October 1939) is a British artist working in London. He is the creator of "reverspective", an optical illusion on a 3-dimensional surface where the parts of t...Category
2010s Interior Paintings
MaterialsInkjet, Photographic Film, ABS
- Dreamscapes, Beach Series XIII, edition 3 of 10By Cheryl MaederLocated in PARIS, FRCheryl Maeder is a Fine Art Photographer and Filmmaker Maeder was born in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA, and in her early 20s moved to Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied photogr...Category
2010s Figurative Photography
MaterialsPlexiglass
- Far & Away XIBy Cheryl MaederLocated in PARIS, FRheryl Maeder is a Fine Art Photographer and Filmmaker Maeder was born in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA, and in her early 20s moved to Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied photogra...Category
2010s Figurative Photography
MaterialsPlexiglass
- EpicurienneLocated in PARIS, FRPhilippe Hiquily (1925 – 2013) is a French artist and designer known for biomorphic furniture and sculptures. He was able to combine modernist design, insect physiognomy, and human s...Category
2010s Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- La FunambuleLocated in PARIS, FRPhilippe Hiquily (1925 – 2013) is a French artist and designer known for biomorphic furniture and sculptures. He was able to combine modernist design, insect physiognomy, and human s...Category
Early 2000s Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- Gondola, Canal Grande, Venice, black and white fine art cityscape photographyBy Gerald BerghammerLocated in Vienna, ViennaBlack and white fine art long exposure cityscape - landscape photography. Gondola on the Canal Grande at sunrise Venice, Italy. Archival pigment ink print, edition of 7. Signed, titl...Category
2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsArchival Paper, Giclée, Digital Pigment, Photographic Film, Black and Wh...
- The Lagisza Power Station, Silesia, Poland; Industrial landscape - Rare VintageLocated in London, GBThis vintage print of the The Lagisza Power Station is extremely rare as it has been printed on warm tone paper giving a slight sepia effect. It is one of the last remaining vintage prints of this image available and it's a large print (40 x 58 cm) The Lagisza Power Station print is one of those most iconic industrial photographs...Category
1970s Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Archival Paper
- St Marks Campanile, Venice, black and white photography, cityscape, landscapeBy Gerald BerghammerLocated in Vienna, ViennaBlack and white fine art cityscape photography. Archival pigment ink print, edition of 9. Signed, titled, dated and numbered by artist. Certificate of authenticity included. Printed ...Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Black...
- Seafront Landscape with Rocks, Conceptual Photography, Lively Colors CaveBy Ryan RivadeneyraLocated in Barcelona, ES"Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge" is a series of photographs by Ryan Rivadeneyra inspired by the Art Deco colors of Miami that show beautiful ob...Category
2010s Conceptual Landscape Prints
MaterialsArchival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, Giclée, Archival Pig...
- Dark Forest, Giclée Print Diptych Landscape, Blue Tones Impressionist LeavesBy Ryan RivadeneyraLocated in Barcelona, ESCyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world o...Category
2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, G...
- Inside Jupiter's Eye, Marbling Shapes in Warm Earth Tones Diptych, Giclée PrintBy Ryan RivadeneyraLocated in Barcelona, ESCyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world o...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, G...