Christo, “Wrapped Statues”, Mixed Media, 1988
View Similar Items
Christo, “Wrapped Statues”, Mixed Media, 1988
About the Item
- Creator:Christo and Jeanne-Claude (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 35.04 in (89 cm)Width: 27.17 in (69 cm)Depth: 0.4 in (1 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1988
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Munster, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1391223523372
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.
- Documenta "Die Kunstfalle" Rosa My Hardt Lim. and Sign Edition 84 / 100Located in Munster, NRWMultiple "Die Kunstfalle" by Rosa My Hardt Lim. and Sign edition 84 / 100.Category
Vintage 1970s Contemporary Art
MaterialsWood
- Lothar Quinte Series of Three "Fan-Images" LithographsBy Lothar QuinteLocated in Munster, NRWLothar Quinte is a German artist of the new abstraction of the 1960s and the 1970s. Epreuve d'artiste 11 / 15 5 / 20.Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Exposition "S'asseoir", 1974, Musée de Grenoble 12 Posters in DIN A2, De SedeBy Ettore Sottsass, De SedeLocated in Munster, NRWExposition "S'asseoir" - 1974, Musée de Grenoble 12 posters in DIN A2 (420 x 594 mm) as high-quality reprints on cardboard Wonderful hand drawings of several design classics, wh...Category
2010s French Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsPaper
- Karl Gerstner, Graphic "Colour-Sound" Edition Galerie Denise René, ParisBy Karl Gerstner, Denise RenéLocated in Munster, NRWDesigner of the famous SHELL logo, Karl Gerstner put out the "Color Sound" series in 1978. This signed and stamped print comes from Galerie Denise René, Pa...Category
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Angelo Mangiarotti Eros Marble Side Table Skipper Italy 1971 Guéridon ModernBy Skipper, Angelo MangiarottiLocated in Munster, NRWRare Angelo Mangiarotti Eros marble table. 1971 manufactured by Skipper, Italy. 72.5cm high, 66cm x 44cm... "happiness comes from correctness.“, by Angelo Mangiarotti, architect, designer and professor, born in Milan in 1921. Perhaps because as a visiting professor in Chicago in the mid-1950s he met not only Frank Lloyd Wright, but also Walter Gropius and Mies Van der Rohe. But maybe it just describes his profound architectural understanding of construction and materiality that always influenced his design. And precision is an essential component of his series of “eros” tables developed for skipper in 1971. They consist only of a marble slab and also made of marble column feet that “slot” into prefabricated openings through their conically shaped upper end. The weight of the slab stabilizes the structure like the end stone of a vault. Due to the pure marble...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Florence Knoll Sideboard Wall Bar Unit Teak 1954 Knoll International Mid CenturyBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Munster, NRWWall mounted sideboard unit by Florence Knoll, made by Knoll International, Stuttgart in 1954. Rare opportunity to acquire an original Knoll Internat...Category
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsTeak
- Christo Lithograph-Collage Wrapped FountainBy Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in Barcelona, BarcelonaChristo lithograph-collage Lithograph-collage (Architectural drawings by Pere Casajoana Architect) Wrapped fountain 2009 Measures: 56.0 x 71....Category
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
MaterialsPaper
$9,850 Sale Price / item20% Off - Christo, Texas Mastra Project for 500, 000 Stacked Oil Drums, Signed LithographBy Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in St. Louis, MOChristo (1935-2020) Bulgarian. The TEXAS MASTABA, PROJECT FOR 500,000 STACKED OIL DRUMS (S. 85), 1976, color lithograph & screenprint collage on 1/8” brown board, signed and numbered...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Contemporary Art
MaterialsAcrylic, Paper
- Christo and Jeanne-Claude Wrapped Reichstag, 1971By Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in East Hampton, NYChristo and Jeanne-Claude, American, Bulgarian and Moroccan, b. 1935-2020 and 1935-2009. Newly framed and hand-signed. Title: Wrapped Reichstag Serie...Category
Vintage 1970s French Post-Modern Prints
MaterialsGlass, Paper
- "Ugly" by Dike Blair Contemporary Mixed-Media Artwork 1987Located in Dayton, OH"Ugly" by Dike Blair Contemporary mixed-media Artwork 1987 Ugly by Dike Blair, b.1952 USA. Made in 1987, Resin over digital print, glass, painted wood and fake foliage Signed, ti...Category
Vintage 1980s Modern Prints
MaterialsOther
- Framed Mixed Media Collage 'Hot Seat I' by Ilana Harris-BabouBy Ilana Harris-BabouLocated in New York, NYFramed original, one-of-a-kind mixed media collage work on paper by Contemporary Black artist Ilana Harris-Babou. Additional Information: This cheeky, colorful and contemporary mixed media collage is composed from images of seating Harris-Babou culled from interior design magazines and catalogues. The artist implements gouache paint, graphite pencil and bright pigments to create these bold statement pieces. This piece is one of a series of five unique works that can be sold in a group, and each is matted and framed in a white wood frame. In the artist's own words, "I'm interested in the traces our bodies leave behind. Recently, I was sitting on a subway seat...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Art
MaterialsPaper, Paint
- Monumental Annette Leamiex Multiplication Loaves Bread Mixed Media Catfish 145"Located in Dayton, OH"Annette Lemieux is one of the few wunderkind of the 1980s global art scene who has endured beyond that feverish time to become a significant artist wh...Category
Vintage 1980s Modern Prints
MaterialsCanvas