No connection to server
441A
1476984

Christo & Jeanne-Claude

(United States, 1935-2020)
Estimate
800 000 - 1 000 000 SEK
71 500 - 89 400 EUR
75 500 - 94 300 USD
Hammer price
860 000 SEK
Purchasing info
Image rights

The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.

For condition report contact specialist
Louise Wrede
Stockholm
Louise Wrede
Specialist Contemporary Art, Private Sales
+46 (0)739 40 08 19
Christo & Jeanne-Claude
(United States, 1935-2020)

'The Pont Neuf Wrapped (Project for Pont Neuf – Paris)'

Signed Christo and dated 1976. Collage, pencil, fabric, twine, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, wax crayon, pastel, charcoal, and map 55 x 70 cm. A certificate of authenticity executed by the Estate of Christo V. Javacheff accompanies the lot.

Provenance

Acquired via Carl Flach in the early 1980's.

More information

"The Pont Neuf Wrapped (Project for Pont Neuf – Paris; Quai des Grandes Augustins, Quai du Louvre, Quai de la Megisserie and Quai de Conti)"

The artists Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) worked together for over 50 years. Their enormous and astounding art projects using city and landscape elements made them world-famous. They mastered the whole creative process from idea and documentation to realisation. With their temporary transformations Christo and Jeanne-Claude wanted to redefine objects, buildings and landscapes as art, whilst also expressing a change in the purpose and space for art.

In order to get the permit necessary to carry out their white wrapping of Pont Neuf in Paris, Christo and Jeanne-Claude visited the shops adjacent to either end of the bridge and convinced the shop owners that the project would be beneficial to their businesses. At the same time Christo encouraged the shop owners to write in support of the project to the then mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac. When Pont Neuf was finally wrapped in 1985 – after a long period of negotiations and planning (which included a ‘trial wrap’ of another bridge so as to test that it could be done in practice) – they transformed the cityscape abruptly, replacing the historical bridge with a completely alien form. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s artistic work is not primarily conditioned by the desire to create art objects, but is motivated by the need to engage artistically with a place and create a dialogue with its history.

The temporal installations that their works consist of are the result of years of preparations, in which the methodology and the creative process are captured in sketches, photographs and collages that have become artworks in themselves. They all have their own value and document the artistic development of the projects. The work in the auction The Pont Neuf Wrapped (Project for Pont Neuf – Paris) from 1976 is just such an original piece.

The impermanent work was funded entirely by the artists. By wrapping Pont Neuf the tradition of gradual metamorphoses continued through a new sculptural dimension, transforming it into an artwork for fourteen days. Ropes secured the fabric against the metal bridge, retaining its general shape whilst emphasising proportions and details of the Pont Neuf, which for more than 400 years has united the left bank and the right bank through Île de la Cité, the heart of Paris.

Artist

Christ (Born as Christ Vladimirov Javacheff), was a Bulgarian artist and Jeanne-Claude (born Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon), were an artist married couple. Javacheff underwent his studies between 1953 and 56 at the Academy in Sofia, whereafter he continued his tuition in Wien. Yet, after only on term, the artist moved to Paris in 1958, where he lived stateless, having fled Bulgaria and lost his citizenship. He made a living by painting portraits, which he thought equated to prostitution. In 1958 he met his future wife, Jeanne-Claude and together they created “environmental art”. They famously "wrapped" the Reichstag in Berlin, the Pont Neuf in Paris, the 39 km long Running Fence in California, and The Gates in New York's Central Park. They deny that their exists any deeper meaning in their art beyond its aesthetic effect. Their intent was simply to create a different way of experiencing familiar "landscapes." None of their artworks were preserved, only the preparatory drawings and collages, which have given their art a legendary status. Projects were signed only "Christo" until 1994, when works from 1961 onward were also referred to as created by "Christo and Jeanne-Claude." Jeanne-Claude was born in Casablanca. She was educated in France and Switzerland and graduated in Latin and philosophy in 1952 from the University of Tunis. Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009.

Read more