One of the most singular visons in all of the history of art, Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude (both born on the same day - June 13, 1935!) created what can be viewed, in turn, as massive sculptures, temporary instillations, environmental art, fluid performance art or beautiful, offbeat public projects. If by chance you are unfamiliar with any of Christo’s wrappings or instillations, here’s a photo of his pink polypropylene fabric surrounding islands in Biscayne Bay outside of Miami, Florida.


This coffee table art book published by Rizzoli contains hundreds of illustrations and photos, many in color as well as a short informative essay by Marina Vaizey. To share a taste of Christo’s vision, here are several quotes from the essay with my brief comments:

“Christo is, among other attributes, courageous and fearless. He is genuinely courageous because he above all others – as the most experienced in the making of Christos – knows the risks, effort and difficulty of his projects.” ---------- A most distinctive aspect to Christo’s creativity is viewing all of the detail – the written correspondence, meetings, telephone calls, logistics, hassles- with such as planning boards, lawyers and community groups as all integral and very much part of the art. Christo and Jeanne-Claude needed not only a ton of artistic imagination but patience and understanding.

“His originality is diverse, his productivity prodigious. His art is simultaneously intensely sophisticated and complicated, strikingly simple, readily accessible and public.” ---------- Christo stated directly his art exists for sheer aesthetic joy and beauty. Anybody, irrespective of their background in art, can appreciate and take delight in a Christo.

“Christo accomplishes three things at once. He makes things of uncanny beauty which exist for a while in the real world. Christos are art: artificial, constructed, man-made. Christos enhance the real world, sharpen our vision, make us more aware and observant, and finally, change the way we see things.” ---------- It’s that last point I find particularly penetrating – how millions of people who have seen his art either live or reproduced have the opportunity to sharpen and transform their vision.


“Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize the partnership: Jeanne-Claude is as Christo is in a different way, a brilliant organizer, an administrator.” ---------- Christo has always been clear on the collaborative nature of his art. Without the talents of his leading collaborator, Jeanne-Claude, the various wrappings and constructions would not have been able to happen.

I will let Christo himself have the last word: "I am an artist, and I have to have courage. Do you know that I don't have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they're finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.”
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One of the most singular visons in all of the history of art, Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude (both born on the same day - June 13, 1935!) created what can be viewed, in turn, as massive sculptures, temporary instillations, environmental art, fluid performance art or beautiful, offbeat public projects. If by chance you are unfamiliar with any of Christo’s wrappings or instillations, here’s a photo of his pink polypropylene fabric surrounding islands in Biscayne Bay outside of Miami, Florida.


This coffee table art book published by Rizzoli contains hundreds of illustrations and photos, many in color as well as a short informative essay by Marina Vaizey. To share a taste of Christo’s vision, here are several quotes from the essay with my brief comments:

“Christo is, among other attributes, courageous and fearless. He is genuinely courageous because he above all others – as the most experienced in the making of Christos – knows the risks, effort and difficulty of his projects.” ---------- A most distinctive aspect to Christo’s creativity is viewing all of the detail – the written correspondence, meetings, telephone calls, logistics, hassles- with such as planning boards, lawyers and community groups as all integral and very much part of the art. Christo and Jeanne-Claude needed not only a ton of artistic imagination but patience and understanding.

“His originality is diverse, his productivity prodigious. His art is simultaneously intensely sophisticated and complicated, strikingly simple, readily accessible and public.” ---------- Christo stated directly his art exists for sheer aesthetic joy and beauty. Anybody, irrespective of their background in art, can appreciate and take delight in a Christo.

“Christo accomplishes three things at once. He makes things of uncanny beauty which exist for a while in the real world. Christos are art: artificial, constructed, man-made. Christos enhance the real world, sharpen our vision, make us more aware and observant, and finally, change the way we see things.” ---------- It’s that last point I find particularly penetrating – how millions of people who have seen his art either live or reproduced have the opportunity to sharpen and transform their vision.


“Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize the partnership: Jeanne-Claude is as Christo is in a different way, a brilliant organizer, an administrator.” ---------- Christo has always been clear on the collaborative nature of his art. Without the talents of his leading collaborator, Jeanne-Claude, the various wrappings and constructions would not have been able to happen.

I will let Christo himself have the last word: "I am an artist, and I have to have courage. Do you know that I don't have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they're finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.”


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