It was impossible to escape it at the start of that autumn: across the media, on social networks, and, moreover, in the midst of Fashion Week, The Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was everywhere. Fascinating to some, less so to others, the final work by Christo (born on June 13, 1935, and who passed away the previous year) and Jeanne-Claude (also born on June 13, 1935, the very same day as him, and who died in 2009) left no one indifferent.
A monumental art installation
For 16 days, from Saturday, September 18 to Sunday, October 3, 2021, one of the French capital’s most iconic landmarks was covered with 25,000 square metres of recyclable silver polypropylene fabric and 3,000 metres of red rope made from the same material. Notably, the blue of the sky, the white-silver sheen of the fabric, and the red of the rope echoed the colours of the French national flag.
Thirty-six years after wrapping the Pont Neuf in Paris, the installation of the artwork began two months in advance, on July 15, and involved around a thousand people for both the setup and the exhibition. The project required two cranes and several aerial work platforms capable of reaching more than 80 metres above the ground. To protect the monument’s stonework, a 312-tonne steel framework was installed to prevent friction against its edges and to safeguard its sculptures and vault. As if animated by the surrounding winds (the Arc de Triomphe stands atop a hill) visitors could also access the rooftop and walk directly on the fabric itself.
The Genesis of the Project
A young art student fleeing communism in Bulgaria, Christo arrived in Paris in 1958 at the age of 23. He moved into a modest maid’s room on Rue Quentin-Bauchart, just a few metres from the Champs-Élysées, whose dormer window overlooked the Arc de Triomphe. He met Jeanne-Claude that same year, the daughter of a general and director of the École Polytechnique, who would become both his creative partner and his companion for the rest of their lives.
Displayed at Sotheby’s, September 2021.
It was in 1962 that Christo first conceived the idea of wrapping both the Pont Neuf and the Arc de Triomphe, creating a photomontage of the latter (see below). The project seemed so utopian to the couple that they took no concrete steps to pursue it between 1962 and 2017. In the end, it took Christo only two years to secure the necessary permissions and approvals. Although the project was later postponed due to the nesting of kestrels living within the monument (!) and the COVID-19 crisis, it finally came to fruition, sadly posthumously, as Christo passed away on May 31, 2020, eleven years after Jeanne-Claude.
Photos credits: @elegantinparis
Elégances Parisiennes 