The artists Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) worked together for over 50 years. Their enormous and astounding art projects of city and landscape elements made them world-famous. They mastered the whole creative process from idea and documentation to realization.
Before the projects were realized in full size, the artistic idea emerged in preparatory sketches, collages, drawings, and scale models. These works of art made in Christo's studio should be considered the most important steps in the creative process. They all have their own value and document the artistic development of the project. The work in the auction "The Umbrellas (Project for Japan and Western USA)" from 1989 is one such original work.
The temporary work, which was only live for 18 days, was funded entirely by "The Umbrellas, Joint Project for Japan and the U.S.A. Corporation" (Jeanne-Claude, Christo-Javacheff, President). The entire temporary project cost $ 26 million to complete.
On October 9, 1991, 960 people gathered in the United States and 920 people in Japan to jointly carry out the installation "The Umbrellas". Every umbrella was 6 meters tall and had a diameter of 8.66 meters. Dismantling began on October 27, 1991, and the terrain on which they stood was restored and most of the 3,100 umbrellas could be recycled. The fact that the project was carried out in Japan and in the USA at the same time was to point out the similarities and differences in the way of life and use of the land in the respective valleys.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s website states the following: ”In the precious and limited space of Japan, the umbrellas were positioned intimately, close together and sometimes following the geometry of the rice fields. In the luxuriant vegetation enriched by water year round, the umbrellas were blue. In the California vastness of uncultivated grazing land, the configuration of the umbrellas was whimsical and spreading in every direction. The brown hills are covered by blond grass. In that dry landscape, the umbrellas were yellow.”