Let's take a look at this extraordinary event, featuring one of the most important monuments in the French capital!
A couple with monumental ambitions
Christo and Jeanne Claude, who died in 2020 and 2009 respectively, were an extraordinary artistic couple. As a predestination of their union, they were both born on the same day at the same time (June 13, 1935), in two distant places of the globe: Christo in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and Jeanne Claude in Casablanca, Morocco.
The two companions met in 1958. At 23 years old, they quickly fell under the spell and began their artistic collaboration. Christo took care of the artistic part (drawing and design) while Jeanne-Claude mobilized her organizational skills to set up the colossal projects of her husband.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1985.
Close to Land Art, although they refuse to call it so, the duo produces gigantic and temporary artworks from fabrics, sheets, cables and wood or metal structures, and uses monuments and heritage symbols as a basis for their works. Most of their artworks consist in the "wrapping" of buildings, monuments, landscapes, or iconic places. They "reveal by hiding" the symbol, the beauty, or the use of a place on which they interfere.
Starting in the 1960s, the couple succeeded in setting up their first in situ installations. Ephemeral and often misunderstood, these installations managed to make a mark on public opinion and collectors, who were increasingly interested in this completely new approach, which was outside of the traditional paths of artistic promotion (studio, gallery, museum).
Uncompromising, the couple went through many financial difficulties without making concessions. Despite a multitude of monumental and expensive projects, they never gave in to the facilities of subsidies from outside organizations, galleries, institutions or other sponsors, which could have impacted the true freedom of their approach. In the constraint, they preferred to take the time to finance each of their ideas by their own means, generally by the sale of sketches and preparatory drawings made by Christo.
Yesterday controversial, today undeniable
Over the course of their careers, Christo and Jeanne-Claude have become more and more famous, and therefore less and less contested for their ideas. However, the gamble wasn't won in advance. In 1962, when the two lovers installed their artwork Iron Curtain (a wall of barrels 4.30m high) in the middle of Paris, they were arrested by the police. In 1983, their artwork Surrounded Islands (a pink fabric belt surrounding two islands in Miami) raised a new controversy about the ecological impact of the installation. The artists employed several biologists and environmental specialists on their teams, and also financed the cleanup of the islands upstream, at their own expense.
In 1985, the couple packed the Pont Neuf in Paris. Here too, they were attacked by politicians and the public: a part of the audience, (too) conservative, didn't understand the interest of such an artwork on the public domain. Completely self-financed, this installation was a success and contributed to the recognition of Christo and Jeanne Claude by the French public. The same reticence arose from their German project to pack the Reichstag (1995). Despite a strong political protest, more than 5 million people came to see the art installation in Berlin.
Christo and Jeanne Claude, Reichstag Wrapped, 1995. Photo : Oscar Wagenmans.
Christo even said during his lifetime: "All our projects are totally irrational, totally useless. Nobody needs them. The world can live without them. They exist in their own time, impossible to repeat". A true artistic, virtuous and anti-capitalist spirit, at the antipodes of the big business of contemporary art, incarnated by personalities such as Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst.
The project in datas
Entitled L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, this monumental artwork reveals figures as impressive as its realization. Beware, vertigo!
- 60 years of work.
This achievement was made possible thanks to the numerous preparatory works of Christo and his wife, as well as the unfailing determination of his heirs and teams, who today allow this titanic dream to see the light of day.
In 1959, Christo made his first photomontage of the Arc de Triomphe. 26 years later, he revisited this project that had been left aside with a new collage. It' s only 60 years later, in 2020, that the project becomes a reality thanks to the joint mobilization of the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, the City of Paris and the Centre Pompidou.
- 25,000 m2 of silver-blue fabric and 3,000 m of red rope.
All the materials used will be completely recycled after the artwork is dismantled, in accordance with the wishes expressed by Christo before his death. Three teams are currently working around the clock to arrange the monument before its draping.
- 16 days of exhibition (September 18 - October 3, 2021).
Christo and Jeanne-Claude wanted their artworks to be ephemeral: "the urgency to be seen is all the greater since tomorrow everything will have disappeared... No one can buy these artworks, no one can own them, no one can market them, no one can sell tickets to see them... Our work speaks of freedom". This one won't be an exception to the rule, since it will be dismantled only 2 weeks after its installation.
- Total cost: 14 million euros.
This project is entirely financed by the sale of Christo's artworks (sketches and preparatory drawings), without recourse to any public contribution. This is rare enough to be highlighted.
A video describing the evolution of this fascinating adventure
Unfortunately, the couple that transforms monuments into a poetic experience will never be able to witness the realization of their latest shared obsession. However, the studio's press release is reassuring: "Christo lived his life to the fullest, not just dreaming about what seemed impossible, but making it happen." Together with Jeanne Claude, they designed monumental artwork "that brought people together in shared experiences around the world, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories."
We couldn't have concluded this article better: Hats off to the artist!
For the more curious, a video is available on Sotheby's channel, summarizing step by step the conception of this fascinating artwork, installed in the heart of Paris:
Bastien Alleaume (Crapsule Project)