Christo and Jeanne Claude Paris!

Paris !

THE PARISIAN YEARS 1958–1964

Christo in his studio, 14, rue de Saint-Senoch, Paris, 17th arr., 1962

13

THE PARISIAN YEARS 1958–1964

Christo in his studio, 14, rue de Saint-Senoch, Paris, 17th arr., 1962

13

Christo’s Gesture Sophie Duplaix

“For me, anything that has meaning is propaganda.”1 With this statement, Christo refutes the powerful influence of the political context that had constrained him since his childhood—that of Communist Bulgaria, which he associates with humiliation, terror, and loss of freedom. Censorship was not only part of a daily life under control; it also hindered the development of his early passion for art, which was nonetheless encouraged very early on by his mother, who was generous, cultivated, and closely linked to avant-garde circles. Still, the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, where he studied from 1953 to 1956, remained for the young rebel Christo a conventional and restrictive proponent of Socialist Realism in which it was impossible for him to project himself.

The very essence of Christo’s work can perhaps be found in those dark, difficult years, which were marked by a single desire—the desire to leave, even at the risk of suffering; there is no substitute for freedom. This watchword also underlies each of Christo’s projects: “I create works that are totally irrational, irresponsible, with no justification. At the same time, they involve thousands of people engaged in a poetic act.”2 The artist insists on a reality principle that defies any attempt at interpretation. He declares in this respect: “[...] everything in my work is very strongly literal”3 or “[...] you cannot replace the pleasure and the sensuality of real things.”4 Analyzing Christo’s work from this starting point represents a true challenge.

The undertaking proves easier, however, in terms of his Paris period, from 1958 to 1964, despite the fact that the artist’s first works are often interpreted in terms of a few narrow categories. The subsequent development of his oeuvre in nature or the urban environment is masterfully summarized in a statement by Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, a statement that seems to preclude discussion but that embodies the driving force behind their joint projects: “The Christos do not spend their money on mainstream pleasures. They have their own priorities […], that is, to create works of art of JOY and BEAUTY.”5 In July 1961, Christo would finally have his first solo exhibition, which was not even held Paris, where he had been living since March 1958, but at the Galerie Haro Lauhus in Cologne. His artistic vocabulary was already established; the exhibition brought together Empaquetages [Packages] (wall packages and wrapped furniture), structures made of barrels (columns and stacks), elements of his very first works entitled Inventaire [Inventory] and an outdoor project for the Cologne Harbor from his Monuments temporaires [Temporary Monuments], later referred to as Dockside Packages and Stacked Oil Barrels (ill. 1). The exhibition received rather mixed reviews. As for critic Pierre Restany, asked to write

1—Christo in Matthias Koddenberg, “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Beyond Fabric,” in Christo et JeanneClaude: Barils. Barrels, ed. Olivier Kaeppelin, exh. cat., Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence [June 4– November 27, 2016] (Dortmund: Kettler Verlag; Paris: L’Arche Éditeur, 2016), 40.

2— Christo, interview with Marcel Daloze, in Christo: Dessins, collages, photos, exh. cat., Centre d’art Nicolas de Staël, Braine-l’Alleud [November 7–29, 1987] (1987), 12.

3— Christo in David Bourdon, Christo (New York: Abrams, 1970), 25.

4— Christo, interview with Julia Halperin, in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Works in Progress, exh. cat., Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich [February 14–March 26, 2016] (2016), 56.

5— Christo et Jeanne-Claude, Erreurs les plus fréquentes (Paris: Jannink, 1998, n.p., trans.).

Opposite : Christo’s studio, 14, rue de Saint-Senoch, Paris, 17th arr., 1962

15

Christo’s Gesture Sophie Duplaix

“For me, anything that has meaning is propaganda.”1 With this statement, Christo refutes the powerful influence of the political context that had constrained him since his childhood—that of Communist Bulgaria, which he associates with humiliation, terror, and loss of freedom. Censorship was not only part of a daily life under control; it also hindered the development of his early passion for art, which was nonetheless encouraged very early on by his mother, who was generous, cultivated, and closely linked to avant-garde circles. Still, the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, where he studied from 1953 to 1956, remained for the young rebel Christo a conventional and restrictive proponent of Socialist Realism in which it was impossible for him to project himself.

The very essence of Christo’s work can perhaps be found in those dark, difficult years, which were marked by a single desire—the desire to leave, even at the risk of suffering; there is no substitute for freedom. This watchword also underlies each of Christo’s projects: “I create works that are totally irrational, irresponsible, with no justification. At the same time, they involve thousands of people engaged in a poetic act.”2 The artist insists on a reality principle that defies any attempt at interpretation. He declares in this respect: “[...] everything in my work is very strongly literal”3 or “[...] you cannot replace the pleasure and the sensuality of real things.”4 Analyzing Christo’s work from this starting point represents a true challenge.

The undertaking proves easier, however, in terms of his Paris period, from 1958 to 1964, despite the fact that the artist’s first works are often interpreted in terms of a few narrow categories. The subsequent development of his oeuvre in nature or the urban environment is masterfully summarized in a statement by Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, a statement that seems to preclude discussion but that embodies the driving force behind their joint projects: “The Christos do not spend their money on mainstream pleasures. They have their own priorities […], that is, to create works of art of JOY and BEAUTY.”5 In July 1961, Christo would finally have his first solo exhibition, which was not even held Paris, where he had been living since March 1958, but at the Galerie Haro Lauhus in Cologne. His artistic vocabulary was already established; the exhibition brought together Empaquetages [Packages] (wall packages and wrapped furniture), structures made of barrels (columns and stacks), elements of his very first works entitled Inventaire [Inventory] and an outdoor project for the Cologne Harbor from his Monuments temporaires [Temporary Monuments], later referred to as Dockside Packages and Stacked Oil Barrels (ill. 1). The exhibition received rather mixed reviews. As for critic Pierre Restany, asked to write

1—Christo in Matthias Koddenberg, “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Beyond Fabric,” in Christo et JeanneClaude: Barils. Barrels, ed. Olivier Kaeppelin, exh. cat., Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence [June 4– November 27, 2016] (Dortmund: Kettler Verlag; Paris: L’Arche Éditeur, 2016), 40.

2— Christo, interview with Marcel Daloze, in Christo: Dessins, collages, photos, exh. cat., Centre d’art Nicolas de Staël, Braine-l’Alleud [November 7–29, 1987] (1987), 12.

3— Christo in David Bourdon, Christo (New York: Abrams, 1970), 25.

4— Christo, interview with Julia Halperin, in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Works in Progress, exh. cat., Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich [February 14–March 26, 2016] (2016), 56.

5— Christo et Jeanne-Claude, Erreurs les plus fréquentes (Paris: Jannink, 1998, n.p., trans.).

Opposite : Christo’s studio, 14, rue de Saint-Senoch, Paris, 17th arr., 1962

15

an essay for the exhibition’s cataloguebooklet that would not be published until the following autumn, his text— which clearly identifies two gestures in Christo’s work, “accumulation and wrapping”—already expresses certain reservations toward his “dressed shapes,” conveying a preference for his “uncovered objects, undressed […] which ultimately have much more meaning and power over our imagination.” In his text, Restany encouraged the artist to engage in the “singular monumentality” of accumulating barrels in order to set his practice apart by clearly detaching it from that of Arman and Daniel Spoerri. He saw in Christo an artist who “LINE[S] UP” things to build “the cathedrals of a forgotten or still unknown cult, for very personal ends.”6 The comparative allusion to two artIll. 1: Dockside Packages, Cologne harbor, on the occasion of the exhibition “Christo” at the Galerie Haro Lauhus, ists from the Nouveau Réalisme moveCologne, July 28–August 31, 1961 ment, which Restany had officially founded in October 1960, certainly wounded Christo—who had to wait until 1963 before being included in its events, not because he identified with their approach but because he longed for greater visibility in Paris. Restany did not necessarily overlook Christo’s work completely, however; he included two of his stacks of barrels in the group exhibition “Nouvelles aventures de l’objet” [New Adventures of the Object], which he organized in December 1961 at Galerie J,7 but alongside less established artists such as Mark Brusse, Vlassis Caniaris, and Nikos. In late June 1962, on the occasion of the first, very brief solo exhibition that Restany finally dedicated to Christo in the same gallery (ill. 2)—at the same time as the construction of Mur provisoire de tonneaux métalliques—Le Rideau de fer [Temporary Wall of Oil Barrels—The Iron Curtain] on the rue Visconti, which brought Christo’s work wide art-world recognition— the critic clarified his position in a text entitled “Le Docker et le Décor” [The Docker and the Decor]. Referring once again to Christo’s installation in the Cologne harbor the previous year, Restany emphasized the “communal lyricism” that emanated from the harbor’s temporary monuments, drawing parallels with the “poetry of the real, a sensitive product of the energy of cargo workers” in The Iron Curtain. Thus the “transcendental vision” proposed by the artist in terms of work and human activity led the critic to see within it “the language of Nouveau Réalisme, which is also Christo’s language.”8 6— Pierre Restany, “Christo et ses alignements” [Christo and his Line-ups] in Christo, exh. cat., brochure, Galerie Haro Lauhus, Cologne [July 28–August 31, 1961] (1961), n.p.

7— The Galerie J, on the rue de Montfaucon in Paris, was run by Jeannine de Goldschmidt. Pierre Restany was its artistic advisor.

16

8— Pierre Restany, “Le Docker et le Décor,” on the invitation card for Le Rideau de fer, June 27, 1962, and the exhibition “Christo: Monument temporaire.

Mur d’assemblage,” Galerie J, Paris, June 27–July 3, 1962.

While members of the specialized press covered the Parisian event rather widely, they surprisingly disregarded its political dimension, which in fact, Christo had explicitly stated, citing the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 as his catalyst. A letter written by Christo while preparing another project for Cologne— which would never be realized9 —suggests, however, that the idea of barricading a street with barrels was already on his mind, with no direct link to the construction of the “wall of shame,” thus placing the notion of obstruction at the heart of his work. Having nonetheless been declared a “nouveau réaliste” by Restany, who singled out the sociological dimension he wanted to read into the rue Visconti project by praising the energy of labor, Christo was invited for the first time to join one of the movement’s exhibitions in February 1963, the second Festival du Nouveau Réalisme, at the Neue Galerie im Künstlerhaus in Munich, where he presented a Wall of Oil Barrels in one of the arcades in the inner courtyard.

Restany’s sociological approach, tinged with optimism, with its belief in a promising consumer society, not only corrupted Christo’s message but also, more generally, partially obscured the nature of the individual practices of those grouped together under the aegis of Nouveau Réalisme; some aspects of their art contradicted the critic’s assertions entirely, such as the resurgence in their work of

Ill. 2 : Christo and Jeannine de Goldschmidt at the exhibition “Christo. Monument temporaire. Mur d’assemblage” [Christo: Temporary Monument. Wall Assembly], Galerie J, Paris, June 27–July 3, 1962 9— Christo to Stefan Wewerka in a letter dated October 7, 1961; see the chronology by Marion Guibert in the present catalogue, p. 117.

Christo’s Gesture

17

an essay for the exhibition’s cataloguebooklet that would not be published until the following autumn, his text— which clearly identifies two gestures in Christo’s work, “accumulation and wrapping”—already expresses certain reservations toward his “dressed shapes,” conveying a preference for his “uncovered objects, undressed […] which ultimately have much more meaning and power over our imagination.” In his text, Restany encouraged the artist to engage in the “singular monumentality” of accumulating barrels in order to set his practice apart by clearly detaching it from that of Arman and Daniel Spoerri. He saw in Christo an artist who “LINE[S] UP” things to build “the cathedrals of a forgotten or still unknown cult, for very personal ends.”6 The comparative allusion to two artIll. 1: Dockside Packages, Cologne harbor, on the occasion of the exhibition “Christo” at the Galerie Haro Lauhus, ists from the Nouveau Réalisme moveCologne, July 28–August 31, 1961 ment, which Restany had officially founded in October 1960, certainly wounded Christo—who had to wait until 1963 before being included in its events, not because he identified with their approach but because he longed for greater visibility in Paris. Restany did not necessarily overlook Christo’s work completely, however; he included two of his stacks of barrels in the group exhibition “Nouvelles aventures de l’objet” [New Adventures of the Object], which he organized in December 1961 at Galerie J,7 but alongside less established artists such as Mark Brusse, Vlassis Caniaris, and Nikos. In late June 1962, on the occasion of the first, very brief solo exhibition that Restany finally dedicated to Christo in the same gallery (ill. 2)—at the same time as the construction of Mur provisoire de tonneaux métalliques—Le Rideau de fer [Temporary Wall of Oil Barrels—The Iron Curtain] on the rue Visconti, which brought Christo’s work wide art-world recognition— the critic clarified his position in a text entitled “Le Docker et le Décor” [The Docker and the Decor]. Referring once again to Christo’s installation in the Cologne harbor the previous year, Restany emphasized the “communal lyricism” that emanated from the harbor’s temporary monuments, drawing parallels with the “poetry of the real, a sensitive product of the energy of cargo workers” in The Iron Curtain. Thus the “transcendental vision” proposed by the artist in terms of work and human activity led the critic to see within it “the language of Nouveau Réalisme, which is also Christo’s language.”8 6— Pierre Restany, “Christo et ses alignements” [Christo and his Line-ups] in Christo, exh. cat., brochure, Galerie Haro Lauhus, Cologne [July 28–August 31, 1961] (1961), n.p.

7— The Galerie J, on the rue de Montfaucon in Paris, was run by Jeannine de Goldschmidt. Pierre Restany was its artistic advisor.

16

8— Pierre Restany, “Le Docker et le Décor,” on the invitation card for Le Rideau de fer, June 27, 1962, and the exhibition “Christo: Monument temporaire.

Mur d’assemblage,” Galerie J, Paris, June 27–July 3, 1962.

While members of the specialized press covered the Parisian event rather widely, they surprisingly disregarded its political dimension, which in fact, Christo had explicitly stated, citing the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 as his catalyst. A letter written by Christo while preparing another project for Cologne— which would never be realized9 —suggests, however, that the idea of barricading a street with barrels was already on his mind, with no direct link to the construction of the “wall of shame,” thus placing the notion of obstruction at the heart of his work. Having nonetheless been declared a “nouveau réaliste” by Restany, who singled out the sociological dimension he wanted to read into the rue Visconti project by praising the energy of labor, Christo was invited for the first time to join one of the movement’s exhibitions in February 1963, the second Festival du Nouveau Réalisme, at the Neue Galerie im Künstlerhaus in Munich, where he presented a Wall of Oil Barrels in one of the arcades in the inner courtyard.

Restany’s sociological approach, tinged with optimism, with its belief in a promising consumer society, not only corrupted Christo’s message but also, more generally, partially obscured the nature of the individual practices of those grouped together under the aegis of Nouveau Réalisme; some aspects of their art contradicted the critic’s assertions entirely, such as the resurgence in their work of

Ill. 2 : Christo and Jeannine de Goldschmidt at the exhibition “Christo. Monument temporaire. Mur d’assemblage” [Christo: Temporary Monument. Wall Assembly], Galerie J, Paris, June 27–July 3, 1962 9— Christo to Stefan Wewerka in a letter dated October 7, 1961; see the chronology by Marion Guibert in the present catalogue, p. 117.

Christo’s Gesture

17

Christo’s interest in surfaces above and beyond the pictorial painting surface simultaneously led him to explore another approach, in keeping with his first experimental works in Geneva. He thus created Surfaces d’Empaquetage [Packing Surfaces] —which consisted of paper, or more infrequently fabric, coated with dark lacquer and paint, sometimes strewn with sand, and crumpled, thus creating folds and sinuosities, a texture similar to that found on his wrapped objects whose surfaces are stiffened with lacquer—more or less at the same time: small cans (usually empty paint cans), bottles and crates; unfortunately, none of the latter remains in existence.15 Christo offered a rare clue to interpreting these early works: “The work had a lot to do with that sad dimension. There was a kind of ‘miserabilism.’”16 The somewhat precarious situation in which the artist was living at the time, in confined spaces, perpetually fearful that he might at any moment be sent back to his native country—all this allows us to imagine the artist’s state of mind when he was creating these works.

In Lisbon in December 1960, in a group exhibition with René Bertholo and Lourdes Castro—Portuguese friends he had been frequenting since arriving in Paris and publishers of the artisanal journal KWY—Christo showed his work for the first time.17 On this occasion, he made a series of drawings that shed light on his practice (ills. 6 and 7): various arrangements of crates, shelves, closets, at times containing small cans or bottles, all covered with wrinkled and stiffened surfaces, or surfaces that were matte black or shiny. Christo clearly described their rough surfaces with the term “moummified” [sic], a term found in the list of works in the Portuguese exhibition. Thus, mummified crates, mummified objects, combined with shelving, with some parts of the work open and others closed, make up so many variations within a vast corpus that Christo called his Inventory. He created tension between the idea of rigid surfaces on the one hand—and this permanently, since they deal with “mummification”—and the idea of mobility on the other, since the notion of inventory and the multiple combinations the artist suggested evoke movement, transition, absence of fixity. In his text on Christo for the exhibition catalogue, published in Portuguese but reproduced in French in the May 1961 issue of KWY magazine, critic Guy Weelen glorified the poetic gestures that, in the twentieth century, led artists from Kurt Schwitters to Dubuffet to re-enchant everyday materials. He included Christo in this movement, underlining the way he took possession of cans, crates, and cupboards that, “because he brings them together, beneath their shiny or dull costumes, are transformed.” These “parodic, even cruel inventories of our little treasures,” he continued, were nevertheless organized according to “a strict, calculated architecture,” but “multiple, because it is free, [which] allows him to

15— The artist Jan Voss had proposed that his friend Christo set up a studio in part of the garage in Gentilly where he was working. “Yes, the boxes are all destroyed […] not by us, destroyed by our landlord, because we couldn’t pay the rent.” Jeanne-Claude in an interview, in Koddenberg, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, 158 (see note 13).

16— Christo, quoted by Matthias Koddenberg, “Christo

20

and Jeanne-Claude: Beyond Fabric,” in Kaeppelin, Christo et Jeanne-Claude, 32 (see note 1).

17— The exhibition, entitled “Grupo KWY,” was held at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, December 11–20, 1960, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A reduced version of the exhibition was later shown at the Galerie Le Soleil dans la tête in Paris from April 28 to May 1961.

Ill. 6: 4 caisses moumiphies + 1 caisse (boite) avec perssonage + objet moumiphiés [sic] [4 moummified crates + 1 crate (box) with figurre + moummified objects [sic]], August–September 1960, pencil and charcoal on paper, 32.4 × 49.7 cm, collection of the artist

create assemblies that are constantly renewed depending on the time, day, light and mood”18 (ills. 8 and 9).

Commenting on his idea of an Inventory, Christo indicated that “[…] these objects were part of an inventory I was making at home of everything found in a corner of my room. I would stow them away, just like the way, when you’re getting ready to move, you put everything in a corner before sorting it.”19 One can find here, in this clear reflection of those in-between states that Christo would revisit throughout his art, a personal story of painful and frequent relocations that were forced upon him, because as a young man he was obliged to leave his country, his home, his loved ones, and all his familiar belongings behind, starting with his departure for Prague in 1956, followed by his clandestine flight to Vienna, his stay in Geneva, and, finally, his arrival in Paris. Should we read into his mummified surfaces a transposition of the part of himself that was definitively buried, inaccessible, left behind? The human dimension seems quite explicit, in that mummification makes reference to embalming bodies. In Ill. 7: Inventaire [Inventory], December 1960–January 1961, pencil on some of the drawings, this aspect is reinforced, paper, 18 × 32.4 cm, collection of the artist

18— Guy Weelen, “Christo,” Sens Plastique & KWY, special issue (May 1961): n.p. (translation from the Portuguese text in catalogue of the exhibition “ Grupo KWY” at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, from

Christo’s Gesture

December 11–20, 1960, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation).

19— Christo in an interview with Olivier Kaeppelin, in Kaeppelin, Christo et Jeanne-Claude, 57 (see note 1).

21

Christo’s interest in surfaces above and beyond the pictorial painting surface simultaneously led him to explore another approach, in keeping with his first experimental works in Geneva. He thus created Surfaces d’Empaquetage [Packing Surfaces] —which consisted of paper, or more infrequently fabric, coated with dark lacquer and paint, sometimes strewn with sand, and crumpled, thus creating folds and sinuosities, a texture similar to that found on his wrapped objects whose surfaces are stiffened with lacquer—more or less at the same time: small cans (usually empty paint cans), bottles and crates; unfortunately, none of the latter remains in existence.15 Christo offered a rare clue to interpreting these early works: “The work had a lot to do with that sad dimension. There was a kind of ‘miserabilism.’”16 The somewhat precarious situation in which the artist was living at the time, in confined spaces, perpetually fearful that he might at any moment be sent back to his native country—all this allows us to imagine the artist’s state of mind when he was creating these works.

In Lisbon in December 1960, in a group exhibition with René Bertholo and Lourdes Castro—Portuguese friends he had been frequenting since arriving in Paris and publishers of the artisanal journal KWY—Christo showed his work for the first time.17 On this occasion, he made a series of drawings that shed light on his practice (ills. 6 and 7): various arrangements of crates, shelves, closets, at times containing small cans or bottles, all covered with wrinkled and stiffened surfaces, or surfaces that were matte black or shiny. Christo clearly described their rough surfaces with the term “moummified” [sic], a term found in the list of works in the Portuguese exhibition. Thus, mummified crates, mummified objects, combined with shelving, with some parts of the work open and others closed, make up so many variations within a vast corpus that Christo called his Inventory. He created tension between the idea of rigid surfaces on the one hand—and this permanently, since they deal with “mummification”—and the idea of mobility on the other, since the notion of inventory and the multiple combinations the artist suggested evoke movement, transition, absence of fixity. In his text on Christo for the exhibition catalogue, published in Portuguese but reproduced in French in the May 1961 issue of KWY magazine, critic Guy Weelen glorified the poetic gestures that, in the twentieth century, led artists from Kurt Schwitters to Dubuffet to re-enchant everyday materials. He included Christo in this movement, underlining the way he took possession of cans, crates, and cupboards that, “because he brings them together, beneath their shiny or dull costumes, are transformed.” These “parodic, even cruel inventories of our little treasures,” he continued, were nevertheless organized according to “a strict, calculated architecture,” but “multiple, because it is free, [which] allows him to

15— The artist Jan Voss had proposed that his friend Christo set up a studio in part of the garage in Gentilly where he was working. “Yes, the boxes are all destroyed […] not by us, destroyed by our landlord, because we couldn’t pay the rent.” Jeanne-Claude in an interview, in Koddenberg, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, 158 (see note 13).

16— Christo, quoted by Matthias Koddenberg, “Christo

20

and Jeanne-Claude: Beyond Fabric,” in Kaeppelin, Christo et Jeanne-Claude, 32 (see note 1).

17— The exhibition, entitled “Grupo KWY,” was held at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, December 11–20, 1960, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A reduced version of the exhibition was later shown at the Galerie Le Soleil dans la tête in Paris from April 28 to May 1961.

Ill. 6: 4 caisses moumiphies + 1 caisse (boite) avec perssonage + objet moumiphiés [sic] [4 moummified crates + 1 crate (box) with figurre + moummified objects [sic]], August–September 1960, pencil and charcoal on paper, 32.4 × 49.7 cm, collection of the artist

create assemblies that are constantly renewed depending on the time, day, light and mood”18 (ills. 8 and 9).

Commenting on his idea of an Inventory, Christo indicated that “[…] these objects were part of an inventory I was making at home of everything found in a corner of my room. I would stow them away, just like the way, when you’re getting ready to move, you put everything in a corner before sorting it.”19 One can find here, in this clear reflection of those in-between states that Christo would revisit throughout his art, a personal story of painful and frequent relocations that were forced upon him, because as a young man he was obliged to leave his country, his home, his loved ones, and all his familiar belongings behind, starting with his departure for Prague in 1956, followed by his clandestine flight to Vienna, his stay in Geneva, and, finally, his arrival in Paris. Should we read into his mummified surfaces a transposition of the part of himself that was definitively buried, inaccessible, left behind? The human dimension seems quite explicit, in that mummification makes reference to embalming bodies. In Ill. 7: Inventaire [Inventory], December 1960–January 1961, pencil on some of the drawings, this aspect is reinforced, paper, 18 × 32.4 cm, collection of the artist

18— Guy Weelen, “Christo,” Sens Plastique & KWY, special issue (May 1961): n.p. (translation from the Portuguese text in catalogue of the exhibition “ Grupo KWY” at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, from

Christo’s Gesture

December 11–20, 1960, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation).

19— Christo in an interview with Olivier Kaeppelin, in Kaeppelin, Christo et Jeanne-Claude, 57 (see note 1).

21

178

179

178

179

Previous double spread: The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1980 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, ink print and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 38 × 244 cm and 106.6 × 244 cm

182

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1981 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, wax crayon, colored pencil, ink print and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 38 × 165 cm and 106.6 × 165 cm

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1983 Pencil, charcoal and ballpoint pen on paper mounted on cardboard 56 × 71 cm

183

Previous double spread: The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1980 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, ink print and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 38 × 244 cm and 106.6 × 244 cm

182

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1981 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, wax crayon, colored pencil, ink print and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 38 × 165 cm and 106.6 × 165 cm

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1983 Pencil, charcoal and ballpoint pen on paper mounted on cardboard 56 × 71 cm

183

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, enamel paint, charcoal, wax crayon, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, adhesive tape and glue on paper mounted on cardboard 35.5 × 28 cm

186

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, enamel paint, charcoal, wax crayon, ballpoint pen, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, adhesive tape and glue on paper mounted on cardboard 35.5 × 28 cm

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, fabric, thread, ink print, staples and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 28 × 71 cm and 56 × 71 cm

187

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, enamel paint, charcoal, wax crayon, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, adhesive tape and glue on paper mounted on cardboard 35.5 × 28 cm

186

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, enamel paint, charcoal, wax crayon, ballpoint pen, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, adhesive tape and glue on paper mounted on cardboard 35.5 × 28 cm

The Pont-Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1984 Pencil, pastel, charcoal, fabric, thread, ink print, staples and glue on paper mounted on cardboard Diptych: 28 × 71 cm and 56 × 71 cm

187

© Christo for all works, texts and extracts by Christo and by Christo and Jeanne-Claude For other artists: © Adagp, Paris, 2020 for Raymond Hains, Louise Nevelson, Daniel Spoerri, Jan Voss and Stefan Wewerka © DB - Adagp, Paris, 2020 for Daniel Buren © Man Ray 2015 Trust/Adagp, Paris, 2020 © Succession Yves Klein c/o Adagp, Paris, 2020 © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation/Adagp, Paris, 2020 (for Combine Painting – detail, 1962) © 2020 Niki Charitable Art Foundation/Adagp, Paris for Niki de Saint Phalle © Antonio Costa Pinheiro © Marta Minujín Archives © Cy Twombly Foundation (for Bay of Naples, 1961)

Texts: © Judd Foundation/Adagp, Paris, 2020 for the text by Donald Judd © Michel Ragon © Famille Decock-Restany for texts

by Pierre Restany All rights reserved for the texts and/ or editions by Jean-Jacques Lévêque and Guy Weelen We sincerely thank the Kunstmuseum Bonn for allowing us to reproduce the English version of the Agenda of Jeanne-Claude.

This English version was produced for the 1993 exhibition catalog “Christo, The Pont Neuf Wrapped Paris, 1975–85”.

Photographic credits: © Cliché : Telimage/Adagp Images: 26 Photo Archives Christo: 116 right, 159 top Photo Archives Yves Klein: 119 bottom Photo Archives KWY/Lourdes Castro - Courtesy Lourdes Castro: 109 left Photo Archives Villeglé: 139 bottom Courtesy Collection Angelo Baldassarre : 75 © Dirk Bakker [Archives Christo]: 77 top © Christian Baur, Basel: 56, 91 © Christian Baur [Archives Christo]: 35, 70-71, 98 bottom-right © René Bertholo [Archives Christo]: 19 bottom, 22, 23 left, 105, 107, 108 left, 111 top-right © René Bertholo [Centre Pompidou, Philippe Migeat] : 104 top-left, 110 © Vitor Branco [Archives Christo]: 58 © BPK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/image BPK (Photos by

Charles Paul Wilp): 128 center, 128 bottom, 129, 135 top © Centre Pompidou, Philippe Migeat: flap, 62, 63, 65, 68, 77 bottom, 78 right, 79 top-right, 84, 86, 90 left, 92, 95, 96, 100 right-top, 104 bottom, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178-179, 180-181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190-191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198-199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204-205, 206, 207, 208, 232 bottom-left, 232 bottom-right, 240, 241 bottom, 244 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ Dist. RMN-GP: 81 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ Georges Meguerditchian/Dist.

RMN-GP: 79 bottom © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ Philippe Migeat/Dist. RMN-GP: 30 bottom, 100 top-left © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ André Morin/Dist. RMN-GP: 172 © Centre Pompidou, MNAMCCI Bibliothèque Kandinsky: 106 top-left, 109 top-right, 112, 117 top, 121right, 128 top [Ulrike Schmela, Berlin], 130 left, 131 right, 133, 135 bottom, 136 bottom © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Fonds Shunk et Kender/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais - Gift of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation in memory of Harry Shunk and János Kender: flap, 118 top, 130 right, 131 left © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Fonds Sottsass: 18 © Christo [Archives Christo]: 116 left Photo D.R. [Archives Christo]: 17, 106 top-right-bottom, 120 bottom-left Photo D.R.: 106 top-right-top © Vincent Everarts Photography Brussels [Archives Christo]: 163 © Wjera Fechheimer/D.R. [Archives Christo]: 108 right © Le Figaro Littéraire: 19 top © Galleria Apollinaire, Milan/D.R. [Archives Christo] : 132 bottom, 137 © Bettmann/Getty-Images: 136 top-left © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institut, Los Angeles (2014.R.20): 29, 118 bottom, 126 top, 126 bottom-left, 132 top, 134 top, 158 © André Grossmann [Archives Christo]: 39 bottom, 140 top-left (Courtesy Castelli Gallery, New York), 140 bottom, 169 © André Grossmann [Centre Pompidou, Philippe Migeat]: 245 center-left © Eva Glunz [Archives Christo]: 209 Courtesy Didier Guichard [Archives Christo]: 73 Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Collection

Services - Photographer: Alex Delfanne: 89 Cliché INHA-collection Archives de la critique d’art/D.R.: 134 bottom © Eeva-Inkeri [Archives Christo]: 21, 36, 38, 42, 44, 47, 59, 72, 78 left, 79 top-left, 83, 87, 90 bottom, 98 left © Jeanne-Claude [Archives Christo]: 23 right, 121 left © Jeanne-Claude [INHA-collection Archives de la critique d›art]: 140 top-right Courtesy Annely Juda Fine Art, London : 37 left, 88 © Dominik Keller [Archives Christo]: 37 top-right © Jean-Dominique Lajoux [INHAcollection Archives de la critique d›art] : 111 left © Jean-Dominique Lajoux [Archives Christo]: 34, 120 top, 122 top-left © Jean-Jacques Lévêque/D.R. [Archives Christo]: 12, 103 right, 104 top-right © Paul Louis: 74 bottom © Ville de Marseille, Dist. RMNGrand Palais/Jean Bernard: 60 © Maysles Films, Inc.: 144-149 © Photo André Morain, Paris: 159 bottom, 160, 162 right © Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels/photo: J. Geleyns - Art Photography: 138 right © Ville de Grenoble/Musée de Grenoble –J.L. Lacroix: 30 top Foto © mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien: 117 bottom © Nationaal Archief/Collectie Spaarnestad/Fotograaf onbekend: 136 top-right Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington, NGA Images: 80 © Ad Petersen, Amsterdam: 141 © Daniel Pype: 162 left © Enzo Sellerio - Olivia et Antonio Sellerio ayants-droit de Enzo Sellerio: 14, 25, 32, 103 left © Raymond de Seynes [Archives Christo]: 122 bottom-right, 123 top, 139 top © Raymond de Seynes [INHAcollection Archives de la critique d›art] : 111 bottom-right, 122 top-right © Harry Shunk [Archives Christo]: 66, 67, 119 top-left, 120 bottomright, 123 bottom, 124 top, 127, 138 left, 157 © Shunk-Kender [Archives Christo]: 27, 69, 109 bottom-right, 126 bottom-right © Shunk-Kender [INHA-collection Archives de la critique d’art]: 119 top-right

© Christer Strömholm/Strömholm Estate : 124 bottom, 154, 156 © Joakim Strömholm: 165, 167, 168 © Tate: 39 top © United Press International [Archives Christo]: 28 Courtesy Galerie Daniel Varenne, Genève: 37 bottom-right © Wolfgang Volz [Archives Christo]: flap, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 61, 64, 74 top, 76, 82, 85, 93, 94, 97, 98 right-top, 99, 100 bottom, 101, 106 bottom, 150, 152, 170, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 233 bottom-left, 236 center, 237 bottom-left, 237 top-right, 237 bottom-right, 241 top-right, 248 center-right © Wolfgang Volz [Centre Pompidou, Philippe Migeat]: flat, 166, 232 top, 233 top-left, 233 center-left, 233 top-right, 233 bottom-right, 236 top, 236 bottom, 237 top-left, 237 left-center, 237 right-center, 241 top-left, 245 top-left, 245 left-bottom, 245 top-right, 245 right-center, 245 bottom-right, 248 top-left, 248 bottom-left, 248 topright, 248 bottom-right, 249 © Stefan Wewerka 1961 [Archives Christo]: 16, 113 bottom-right, 114 right, 115 © Stefan Wewerka 1961 [Cliché INHA-collection Archives de la critique d’art]: 113 top, 113 bottomleft, 114 left Photographs by René Bertholo are reproduced with the kind permission of Lourdes Castro.

Photograph: Shunk-Kender © J. Paul Getty Trust. All rights reserved.

Photographs by Enzo Sellerio are reproduced with the kind permission of his rights holders, Olivia and Antonio Sellerio.

Photographs by Charles Paul Wilp: Supported by Förderverein Charles Wilp Modul e.V. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to trace some image and text rights holders. Any individual or company holding reproduction rights in their works are invited to contact the publisher.

6