Christo: Landmark ‘wrapping’ artist who ‘realised the impossible’ dies aged 84
Written by News on 01/06/2020
The artist Christo, famous for his wrappings of landmark buildings and monuments, and colourful public sculptures, has died at the age of 84.
Along with his late wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, Christo’s career was defined by ambitious projects often involving swathing large structures in fabric, which quickly disappeared soon after they were erected.
His work included the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin in a silvery curtain in 1995, a 2005 installation in New York’s Central Park entitled The Gates, and The London Mastaba in 2018 – a 20m (66ft) sculpture of an ancient Egyptian tomb, made from 7,506 red, white and mauve barrels, put on a platform in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park.
Christo died of natural causes at his home in New York City on Sunday.
“Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realising it,” the office of the artist said in a statement.
Born Christo Yavacheff in Bulgaria, he escaped from the then-Communist country in 1957, first to Prague and then to Vienna and Geneva.
He moved to Paris a year later and went on to meet his wife there, before moving to New York in the 1960s.
The couple’s other works included the $26m (£21m) Umbrellas project, which saw 1,340 blue umbrellas installed in Japan and 1,760 blue umbrellas in Southern California in 1991.
They also wrapped the Pont Neuf in Paris, the Kunsthalle in Bern, Switzerland, and a Roman wall in Italy.
Christo had planned to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 25,000 square metres (269,100 square feet) of recyclable blue polypropylene fabric and 7,000m (23,000ft ) of red rope later this year.
His office has said the work is still set to go ahead.
“Christo and Jeanne-Claude have always made clear that their artworks in progress be continued after their deaths. Per Christo’s wishes, ‘L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped’ in Paris, France, is still on track for 18 September to 3 October 2021,” they said.
(c) Sky News 2020: Christo: Landmark ‘wrapping’ artist who ‘realised the impossible’ dies aged 84
