Synopses & Reviews
For their sheer scale and breathtaking audacity, their works have made them among the most celebrated and controversial artists in the world. Valley Curtain stretched 1,250 feet across a valley in Rifle, Colorado; Wrapped Coast covered a mile and a half of Australian coastline with a million square feet of fabric; The Umbrellas deployed 3,100 umbrellas set in Japan and California, each nearly twenty feet tall; Surrounded Islands encircled eleven islands in Biscayne Bay, Florida with six and a half million square feet of bright pink fabric; and Wrapped Reichstag enveloped the entire German parliament in shimmering silver fabric.
For more than forty years, these and many other works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude have reconceived the art of the possible, turned natural and human monuments-streets, bridges, hills, trees, buildings, parks, and islands-into sculptures and paintings, and created dazzling new landscapes and startling new vistas. Often requiring years, even decades, of preparation and planning, these works-not merely feats of aesthetic daring but engineering and organizational marvels-exist for only a few weeks or less. Yet what makes these transient creations linger forever in the mind is their overwhelming and magisterial beauty. They are, in every sense, transformative, and, for the millions who have experienced them in person, unforgettable.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been the frequent subjects of films, videos, catalogues, cartoons, monographs, exhibitions, and editorials. Until this biography by Burt Chernow, however, written with the full cooperation of the artists, nothing has connected the intimate details of their lives and the spectacular dimensions of their projects. Christo, the penniless Bulgarian refugee who made his way to Paris during the 1950s, and Jeanne-Claude, the socialite daughter of a prominent French general, seemed an unlikely couple, yet together they forged one of the most enduring partnerships in contemporary art. When they arrived in New York in 1964, Christo was already becoming well known in avant-garde circles for his wrappings of everyday objects; Jeanne-Claude acted as manager, dealer, and accountant. Over time, as Chernow reveals, the fusion of their prodigious gifts-his drawings and her ability to draw things together-produced the works for which today they are known the world over.
Chernow recounts their rise from relative obscurity to international renown, revealing both the sources of their art and the heights to which it has quite literally aspired. An epilogue by Wolfgang Volz, a longtime and close collaborator of the artists, as well as their exclusive photographer, provides a fascinating insider's view of what it is like to work, and dream, with them. Christo and Jeanne-Claude is an indelible portrait of the artists and their work, and a moving account of an extraordinary couple.
Burt Chernow lectured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was a professor of art history at Housatonic College in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was also the founder and Director Emeritus of the Housatonic Museum of Art. The author of many books and essays, he died in 1997.
Wolfgang Volz's photographs have appeared in Art, GEO, Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Life, and Time magazines. He has worked with Christo and Jeanne-Claude since 1972 and is the exclusive photographer of their work. He was also technical director of the project to wrap the Reichstag. He lives with his wife, Sylvie, in Dusseldorf, Germany.
For their sheer scale and breathtaking audacity, the works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude have made them among the most celebrated and controversial artists in the world. Valley Curtain stretched 1,250 feet across a valley in Rifle, Colorado. Wrapped Coast covered a mile and a half of Australian coastline with a million square feet of fabric. The Umbrellas deployed 3,100 umbrellas in Japan and California, each nearly twenty feet tall. Surrounded Islands encircled eleven islands in Biscayne Bay, Florida, with six and a half million square feet of bright pink fabric. Wrapped Reichstag enveloped the entire German parliament in shimmering silver fabric.
For more than forty years, these and many other works have reconceived the art of the possible, turned natural and human monumentsstreets, bridges, hills, trees, buildings, parks, and islandsinto sculptures and paintings, and created dazzling new landscapes and startling new vistas. Often requiring years, even decades, of preparation and planning, these worksnot merely feats of aesthetic daring but engineering and organizational marvelsexist for only a few weeks or less. Yet what makes these transient creations linger forever in the mind is their overwhelming and magisterial beauty. They are, in every sense, transformative and, for the millions who have experienced them in person, unforgettable.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been the frequent subjects of films, videos, catalogues, cartoons, monographs, exhibitions, and editorials. Yet until this biography, written with the full cooperation of the artists, no previous account has discussed both the intimate details of their lives and the spectacular dimensions of their projects. Christo, the penniless Bulgarian refugee who made his way to Paris during the 1950s, and Jeanne-Claude, the socialite daughter of a prominent French general, seemed an unlikely couple, yet together they forged one of the most enduring partnerships in contemporary art. When they arrived in New York in 1964, Christo was already becoming well known in avant-garde circles; Jeanne-Claude acted as his manager, dealer, and accountant. Over time the fusion of their prodigious giftshis drawings and her ability to draw things togetherproduced the works for which today they are known the world over.
Burt Chernow here recounts their rise from relative obscurity to international renown, revealing both the sources of their art and the quite literal heights to which it has aspired. An epilogue by Wolfgang Volz, a longtime friend and close collaborator of the artists, as well as their exclusive photographer, provides a fascinating insider's account of what it is like to work, and to dream, with this remarkable couple.
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude are as much adventurers and gamblers as artists. They love the action. There is something of the mischievous child in them, devising then accepting their own near-impossible dares. They are guerrillas dedicated to subversion, their schemes greeted with disbelief. Perhaps they find perverse delight in watching jaws drop as people hear of their plans to build a fabric-covered processional through their hometown park, surround islands with flaming pink fabric, construct a gargantuan structure in the desert, or wrap a bridge, monument, or government building. Taking on greater odds, their ideas appear simultaneously familiar and wildly alien, evident yet enormously complicated, obvious but rich in ironic subtexts."Burt Chernow, from Christo and Jeanne-Claude
"What induces an artist to undertake such complicated, dangerous, and ephemeral projects as covering a rocky Australian coastline in synthetic fabric, hanging a colossal curtain across a Colorado valley, or wrapping the Reichstag? Christo, the Bulgarian-born mastermind behind numerous unprecedented, large-scale, politically volatile, and, after the dust settles, sublime and unforgettable creations, has courageously challenged assumptions about art for more than four decades. A man of phenomenal energy, vision, and passion, he's remained an enigma in spite of his renown, as has his collaborator and wife, Jeanne-Claude. This unusual couple, who share the same 1935 birthday and who fell in love under scandalous circumstances in 1959, didn't declare their 'artistic interdependence' until 1994. Chernow, who knew the resilient and intense pair well, recounts their dramatic life stories and chronicles the arduous technical, financial, legal, and public relations efforts involved in their monumental projects, establishing beyond doubt the true symbiotic nature of their partnership. Sadly, Chernow died before completing this captivating work, but it will stand as the keystone biography of a truly revolutionary artist and his soul mate."Donna Seaman, Booklist
Review
"What induces an artist to undertake such complicated, dangerous, and ephemeral projects as covering a rocky Australian coastline in synthetic fabric, hanging a colossal curtain across a Colorado valley, or wrapping the Reichstag? Christo, the Bulgarian-born mastermind behind numerous unprecedented, large-scale, politically volatile, and, after the dust settles, sublime and unforgettable creations, has courageously challenged assumptions about art for more than four decades. A man of phenomenal energy, vision, and passion, he's remained an enigma in spite of his renown, as has his collaborator and wife, Jeanne-Claude. This unusual couple, who share the same 1935 birthday and who fell in love under scandalous circumstances in 1959, didn't declare their 'artistic interdependence' until 1994. Chernow, who knew the resilient and intense pair well, recounts their dramatic life stories and chronicles the arduous technical, financial, legal, and public relations efforts involved in their monumental projects, establishing beyond doubt the true symbiotic nature of their partnership. Sadly, Chernow died before completing this captivating work, but it will stand as the keystone biography of a truly revolutionary artist and his soul mate."
—Donna Seaman, Booklist
Synopsis
For their sheer scale and breathtaking audacity, their works have made them among the most celebrated and controversial artists in the world. Valley Curtain stretched 1,250 feet across a valley in Rifle, Colorado; Wrapped Coast covered a mile and a half of Australian coastline with a million square feet of fabric; The Umbrellas deployed 3,100 umbrellas set in Japan and California, each nearly twenty feet tall; Surrounded Islands encircled eleven islands in Biscayne Bay, Florida with six and a half million square feet of bright pink fabric; and Wrapped Reichstag enveloped the entire German parliament in shimmering silver fabric.
For more than forty years, these and many other works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude have reconceived the art of the possible, turned natural and human monuments-streets, bridges, hills, trees, buildings, parks, and islands-into sculptures and paintings, and created dazzling new landscapes and startling new vistas. Often requiring years, even decades, of preparation and planning, these works-not merely feats of aesthetic daring but engineering and organizational marvels-exist for only a few weeks or less. Yet what makes these transient creations linger forever in the mind is their overwhelming and magisterial beauty. They are, in every sense, transformative, and, for the millions who have experienced them in person, unforgettable.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been the frequent subjects of films, videos, catalogues, cartoons, monographs, exhibitions, and editorials. Until this biography by Burt Chernow, however, written with the full cooperation of the artists, nothing has connected the intimate details of their lives and the spectacular dimensions of their projects. Christo, the penniless Bulgarian refugee who made his way to Paris during the 1950s, and Jeanne-Claude, the socialite daughter of a prominent French general, seemed an unlikely couple, yet together they forged one of the most enduring partnerships in contemporary art. When they arrived in New York in 1964, Christo was already becoming well known in avant-garde circles for his wrappings of everyday objects; Jeanne-Claude acted as manager, dealer, and accountant. Over time, as Chernow reveals, the fusion of their prodigious gifts-his drawings and her ability to draw things together-produced the works for which today they are known the world over.
Chernow recounts their rise from relative obscurity to international renown, revealing both the sources of their art and the heights to which it has quite literally aspired. An epilogue by Wolfgang Volz, a longtime and close collaborator of the artists, as well as their exclusive photographer, provides a fascinating insider's view of what it is like to work, and dream, with them. Christo and Jeanne-Claude is an indelible portrait of the artists and their work, and a moving account of an extraordinary couple.
Synopsis
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude are as much adventurers and gamblers as artists. They love the action. There is something of the mischievous child in them, devising then accepting their own near-impossible dares. They are guerrillas dedicated to subversion, their schemes greeted with disbelief. Perhaps they find perverse delight in watching jaws drop as people hear of their plans to build a fabric-covered processional through their hometown park, surround islands with flaming pink fabric, construct a gargantum structure in the desert, or wrap a bridge, monument, or government building. Taking on greater odds, their ideas appear simultaneously familiar and wildly alien, evident yet enormously complicated, obvious but rich in ironic subtexts."
Burt Chernow
About the Author
Burt Chernow lectured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was a professor of art history at Housatonic College in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was also the founder and Director Emeritus of the Housatonic Museum of Art. The author of many books and essays, he died in 1997.
Wolfgang Volz's photographs have appeared in Art, GEO, Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Life, and Time magazines. He has worked with Christo and Jeanne-Claude since 1972 and is the exclusive photographer of their work. He was also technical director of the project to wrap the Reichstag. He lives with his wife, Sylvie, in Dusseldorf, Germany.