Beach Umbrella Sketch

Christo (Christo Wladimirow Jawaschew, born 1935 in Bulgaria, died 2020 in New York) and Jeanne-Claude (Jeanne-Claude Marie Denat, born 1935 in Casablanca, died 2009 in New York) created a number of world-famous installations as an artist couple.

With 'L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped' (18 September - 03 October 2021), Christo and Jeanne-Claude's last project was realised posthumously. As an artist collective, the pair realised monumental sculptures and installations for over 45 years, often draping and/or wrapping large sections of landscapes, industrial objects and buildings with a special type of fabric.

An important part of the large-scale projects were preliminary drawings, project sketches and objects, and later photographic documentation, which were sold by Christo and Jeanne-Claude to finance the costly projects from the beginning. The installations, on the other hand, were always temporary and the materials recycled afterwards.

In the sense of an ecological aesthetic, the works have their legitimacy purely in memory, dedicated to the ephemeral and transient, by not adding more monuments to an already crowded world.

With wrapping projects that have transformed buildings and landscapes into abstract objects, such as'Wrapped Coast', Australia, 'The Pont Neuf, Wrapped', Paris, France or 'The Gates - New York Central Park', Christo and Jeanne-Claude have gained worldwide attention and fame as 'wrapping artists'.

Christo was born in the small town of Gabrovo, Bulgaria.

His parents had social connections with intellectuals and artists around Gabrovo, and thus Christo grew up with progressive ideas and culture through them.

Christo began creating art early on and was encouraged by professors from the Academy of Fine Arts.

For 35 years he collaborated with artist Jeanne-Claude. Together, the duo created monumentally-scaled sculptures and installations which often utilized the technique of draping and/or wrapping large portions of landscapes, industrial objects, and buildings with a special kind offabric.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude made works that stand out as some of the most grandiose, ambitious, site-specific art works ever.