Christo, work is underway to pack the Arc de Triomphe

Work began yesterday to wrap the Arc de Triomphe of Paris in a silver-blue fabric as a posthumous tribute to the artist Christo Javacheff (1935-2020) who had dreamed of the project for decades. The Bulgarian-born American-born master of Land Art cradled the idea of ​​cladding the imposing war memorial atop the Champs-Elysees in the early 1960s when he rented a small apartment in the center of the French capital. The Arc de Triomphe will be packed with 25,000 square meters of silver-blue polypropylene fabric and 7,000 meters of red rope, both recyclable materials, according to the project authorized by the Parisian authorities in 2019. The ‘roof’ of the iconic monument will be visible from the 18 September to 3 October 2021. This is Christo’s second “radical act” in Paris after that of 1985 when he packed the Pont-Neuf on the Seine in a spectacular way. of the Arc de Triomphe began after the celebration of July 14, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, and will go on for almost two months. The monument will be ‘free’ again for the celebration of the Great War Armistice Day, 11 November. The operation to carry out the installation will be supervised by Christo’s nephew, Vladimir Javacheff, with the support of the Center Pompidou. After a break for the conclusion of the Tour de France cycling race which will pass in front of the Arc de Triomphe tomorrow – Sunday 18 July – the winding works will begin in earnest. The posthumous work of the artist Christo will also be self-financed, like all his previous legendary ‘packaging’ feats. Therefore 25 pencil and pastel drawings of the packed Arc de Triomphe, made by Christo over almost 60 years, will be sold at Sotheby’s. Christo’s original works will be on display at Sotheby’s in Paris from 17 September to 3 October and the proceeds from the private sale will benefit both the “L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped” project and the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. created to safeguard the couple’s legacy for future generations.The cost of the operation to ‘cover’ the Arc de Triomphe will be 14 million euros, fully paid through the sale of preparatory studies, drawings, project collages and models. This is the second partnership between Sotheby’s and the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation after the sale of a private collection last February, which grossed over 8 million euros.With his wife Jeanne Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935-2009), Christo he formed the most famous couple of representatives of Land Art, creating works in which they intervened on the landscape, modifying it temporarily. Their best known works are those made with fabric, “packing” monuments and natural places. The first packaged objects date back to 1958. With the meeting of Jeanne Claude, a long artistic collaboration began in which he took care of the design and she of the organizational aspects. Together they have created spectacular packaging, such as the Little Bay reef in Australia and a group of islands off the coast of Florida. One of the most famous works was made between 1972 and 1976: it is the Running Fence, a series of large white nylon tarpaulins hanging from a ‘steel cable supported by over 2000 posts that formed a long’ snake ‘from east to west for nearly forty kilometers in the countryside north of San Francisco, California. In 1970 and 1974 the monuments of Leonardo da Vinci and Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and the Porta Pinciana in Rome were packed. Christo’s last mammoth work was the realization in 2016 with ‘Floating Piers’ on Lake Iseo, with a series of floating walkways on the water.