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Christo and Jeanne-Claude　L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961-2021

2021/09/18

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
”L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961-2021”

L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l'Étoile - Charles de Gaulle), a temporary work of art, will be on view for 16 days, from Saturday, September 18 to Sunday, October 3, 2021. Per Christo's wishes, the project has been completed by his team in partnership with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), the government institution that manages the Arc de Triomphe.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude long worked for the project of wrapping L’arc de Triomphe, symbol of Paris or even of Western Europe.
In 1961, three years after they met in Paris, Christo rented a small room near the Arc de Triomphe and had been attracted by the monument ever since. Then he made a photomontage of the Arc de Triomphe wrapped and collage later. After his beloved wife’s passing away in 2009, he continued the project scheduled in the spring 2020, which was postponed to 2021 because of corona pandemic. Christo himself died at the age of 84 in May, 2020, so he could not see with his own eyes the wrapped Arc. The Arc de Triomphe is wrapped in 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope. The long project since 1961 was finally realized.

(For available works of Christo, please visit artist page of Art Front Gallery: Click here)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude at The Pont Neuf Wrapped
Paris, 1985(Photo: Wolfgang Volz © 1985 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)

Fabric panels are being unfurled in front of the outer walls of the Arc de Triomphe
Paris, September 12, 2021 (Photo: Wolfgang Volz © 2021 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961-2021
Paris, 2021 (Photo: Benjamin Loyseau © 2021 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)