Work begins on wrapping Arc de Triomphe for Christo artwork

[marmar]

Work begins on wrapping Arc de Triomphe for Christo artwork
Operation combining art and engineering on a massive scale fulfils dream of late artist couple

Kim Willsher in Paris
Sun 12 Sep 2021 08.24 EDT


The monumental feat of wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 sq metres of material and posthumously fulfilling a 60-year dream for the artist Christo has begun.

As the rolls of silvery blue recyclable fabric descended slowly from the top of the Paris landmark early on Sunday, guided by orange-clad abseilers, there was excitement, emotion and a few frayed nerves over an operation that combined art and engineering on a massive scale.

There was sadness, too, that the artists, Christo and his French wife, Jeanne-Claude, who had first imagined L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in 1962 while renting a small room nearby, were not there to see it. The Bulgarian-born Christo Vladimirov Yavachev died in May last year, while his wife and artistic partner – the couple worked together under the name Christo – died in 2009.

Christo, who famously wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, left minutely detailed drawings and instructions covering every visual and artistic aspect of how he wanted the wrapped arch to look.

“This is Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s vision. It’s very important that we pay attention to every detail that Christo wanted,” the artist’s nephew Vladimir Yavachev, who is overseeing the wrap, said. “It was completely designed by Christo to the very last detail and we have to keep to that. If people come and say it’s just like the drawings, that means we’ve done a good job.” ................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/12/works-begins-wrapping-arc-de-triomphe-christo-artwork

[cilla4progress]

1. Never have understood this.

Seems wasteful to me.

What's the point? "Art"? The meaning eludes me.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. I was gonna say something similar

Think of all the kids punished for decorating trees with 🧻. Stifling youthful creativity.

[TxGuitar]

3. Agree.

What's the message? I feel Eyesore's TP example mentioned above is apt.

[tenderfoot]

4. Which waste are you referring to? The monument itself or the idea of wrapping it up as a package?

Personally, I used to bag on Christo (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009)) - the idea of wrapping buildings, etc. seemed silly. However many of their projects turned out to be visually stunning. Hard not to be impressed.

https://www.galeriemagazine.com/8-iconic-artworks-christo-legacy/

Beats blasting oneself into space...

[vanlassie]

6. I was present on the California site of the Umbrellas

the morning they opened. Hard to describe, memorable. I don’t know how one values such sights. My husband was a crew leader and the ten days he worked on the event were a highlight of his life.

[Raine]

16. I saw them too, it was a thrill actually getting to

see his work for real after only seeing it on TV and in pictures. It was very memorable, something I'll always remember.

[intheflow]

10. What a great retrospective!

Thanks for the link. I'm a librarian and have recently been assigned to buy the art books. Haven't gotten to 20th century art yet, so haven't really looked at Christo - and certainly didn't know he had a partner both romantic and artistic who is now given credit along side him! I never really got Christo before, but the Galerie article directed me to his installation in Rifle, CO. It's part of I-70 now, and a view I know well. I had no idea they'd done an installation in Colorado, and seeing the photos kind of took my breath away. I wish I had been able to see it in person! (I was 7, living in the Northeast when it was done in 1971.)

I also love the oil drums stacked on a Paris street. That reverbs today for whole other reasons. And doesn't that indicate "good art"? Something that speaks anew each generation. And definitely better than ego fantasy trips to space.

[BluesRunTheGame]

14. That people don't understand his work has always been a big part of his work.

?itok=-U4pfefs

[cilla4progress]

5. Well, and they've also wrapped a number of natural

features - including "stringing a giant curtain across a mountain pass in Colorado" - what's the point? Guess I'm not sophisticated or intellectual enough.

[Champp]

7. Cool

I'll have the Christo wrap, with a schmear of Brie de Meaux. Thank you, thank you very much.

[blm]

8. Francis Hines wrapped Washington Square in 1980

https://www.mattmuseum.org/exhibition/discovering-new-yorks-wrapper-the-art-of-francis-hines/

[Treefrog]

9. Never got his shtick.

Wasn’t there some barely averted environmental disaster when he “wrapped” something in the ocean? Too lazy to look it up.

[leighbythesea2]

11. Christo

Is a a fav, but I have extra respect for sculptors and installation style art on a grand scale. It cannot easy to create big projects, think of all the people involved?!

[Sympthsical]

12. And yet the Amazon driver will still leave it in the driveway

Yeah, I try to appreciate art. Generally do.

But sometimes . . .

It's one of those, "If it reads like parody . . ." things with me.

[Metatron]

13. I really like it and am so pleased that it was finally accomplished after all these years.

If only he had stuck around long enough to see it.

[Raine]

15. Cristo in 1991 put up gigantic yellow umbrellas along the Grape Vine

here in California. I'd always wanted to see some of his work and was able to go and see those umbrellas. Unfortunately a freak wind came up a few days after I saw them and blew an umbrella over and it killed a woman. All the umbrellas were taken down after that.

[vanlassie]

17. Remember, there was a blue set of Umbrellas planted in Japan at the same time?

Christo witnessed the Blue ones open at dawn, jumped on a plane and flew to California and saw the Yellow ones open at dawn. After they were opened, they stayed up for three weeks.