Christo (born 1935) and Jeanne-Claude (1935–2009) have created some of the most visually breathtaking works of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Their projects have traversed and transcended the boundaries of painting, sculpture and architecture. This lavishly designed, epic volume brings together a wealth of archival material and photographic documentation to offer an intimate behind-the-scenes view of the monumental installations with which the couple have dazzled the public. Photographs portraying the artists at work are supplemented by pictures of all their major projects—
Wrapped Coast
(1968–69),
Valley Curtain
(1970–72),
Running Fence
(1972–76),
Surrounded Islands
(1980–83),
The Pont Neuf Wrapped
(1975–85),
The Umbrellas
(1984–91),
Wrapped Reichstag
(1971–95) and
The Gates
(1979–2005)—as well as reproductions of drawings, collages and objects. Matthias Koddenberg, art historian and close friend of the artists, spent many years compiling the more than 250 mostly unpublished photographs and illustrations assembled here. Many of them show works that were previously unknown or thought lost, including early drawings and paintings dating back to when Christo was still studying art in Bulgaria. Others document temporary sculptures—
Wrapped Woman
(1962, 1963 and 1968),
Wrapped Volkswagen
(1963) and
Wrapped Tree
(1966 and 1969)—or works that were intentionally destroyed and only survive as photographs. The publication was put together in close collaboration with Christo and includes documentation by renowned photographers such as Ugo Mulas, Enzo Sellerio, Harry Shunk and János Kender, Charles Wilp and Wolfgang Volz, who has documented all of the artists’ projects since 1971, together with photos by associates and friends as well as pictures from the artists’ private archives.