CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE UNWRAPPED

In 1981 two artists -- Christo and Jeanne-Claude -- proposed an installation in New York’s Central Park that would span twenty-three miles. They received a 185-page response from the Parks Department that could have been summed up in one single word: “no.” But they persisted. This biography of contemporary artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude is a story of the power of collaboration, and vision, and of the creation of the spectacular Gates and other renowned artworks.

The complete life and work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, in a book designed by Christo himself

"Nobody discusses a painting before it has been painted. Our projects are discussed and argued about, pro and con, before they are realized." —Christo

The work of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude transcends borders, resists categorizing, and embraces contradiction. This is the only large-format book that includes all of their projects, from their early wrappings of trees and buildings to spectacular urban events such as The Gates in Central Park, the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and Running Fence in California, as well as the full spectrum of Christo’s early art works that formed the basis for the ambitious large-scale projects that both artists produced together. Part biography, part critical analysis, part catalogue, the book has a lively text by the critic Paul Goldberger that traces both the lives and the works of an artist couple who established a category all their own: a category somewhere between conceptual art, urban planning, architecture, politics, engineering and art.

This volume gives a complete overview of the life and work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, from earliest family photos to plans for future projects. It features hundreds of previously unpublished photographs, drawings and plans for realized works, an incisive and detailed history spanning the entire oeuvre, and in-depth interviews, in a lavish edition designed by Christo himself.  In addition to a thorough photographic documentation of all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work, the book includes the transcript of a conversation between the artists and Paul Goldberger, the last conversation about her work that Jeanne-Claude had before her death in late 2009. Conceived originally to mark Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s 75th birthdays, this book is now an eloquent memorial to Jeanne-Claude, and a celebration of the work of two artists whose imagination has affected the landscape of every continent.

Collector's Edition of 1,000 copies, numbered and signed by Christo.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are renowned for their dramatic and innovative public projects. Their installations often feature fabric—sometimes wrapped around existing structures or used to create large-scale temporary environments. Some of their most influential projects include Running Fence in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, Surrounded Islands in Miami, the Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and The Umbrellas simultaneously in Japan and California. Now New York City, where they have lived and worked for forty years, will be the site for a much-anticipated Christo and Jeanne-Claude project. The Gates will consist of saffron-colored fabric panels suspended from the horizontal tops of over 7,500 sixteen-foot-tall vinyl gates, positioned at regular intervals throughout 23 miles of walkways of Central Park. The installation will be on view for sixteen days, beginning February 12, 2005 (weather permitting).
This book, published in conjunction with a major exhibition that opens in April 2004 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrates the culmination of the artists’ vision for The Gates, a project that began in 1979. It includes an illustrated introduction by Jonathan Fineberg that surveys the career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and assesses their contribution to contemporary art and culture. The heart of the book consists of beautiful reproductions of the various preparatory collages and drawings that Christo has created for The Gates project, many of which have not been previously published, and detailed documentation of the personalities and events that have led up to the project. This volume also features four highly engaging, unpublished interviews conducted by Fineberg with the artists, from the 1970s to a recent interview in July 2003.