Iconic images from 50 years of transforming citiesChristo (born 1935) and Jeanne-Claude (1935–2009) have always compared their work to that of urban planners. And it is true that the projects they have carried out around the world since the 1960s not only have huge dimensions but are also at the center of public debates and disputes. The very fact that their projects are subject to approval by local authorities makes them sometimes resemble public construction projects more than works of art.For the first time, this book gives a comprehensive account of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s urban projects. It presents preparatory drawings, collages and models for many little-known works from the artists’ early career, some of which were never carried out, such as the planned wrapping of several New York City skyscrapers, as well as the spectacular large-scale projects of later years, such as the wrapping of the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris in 1985, the wrapping of the Reichstag building in Berlin in 1995 and the 2005 installation The Gates in New York’s Central Park. In two detailed essays, the authors of the book explore Christo’s extraordinary talent for drawing and investigate the artists’ ambivalent perspective on urban space, which oscillates between a powerful critique of the city’s impersonal modernism and a tribute to the liberal, democratic use of urban areas.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Urban Projects

Arts & Photography

Koddenberg, Matthias

Martin-Poulet, Laure

Individual Artists

D.A.P./Verlag Kettler

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: In/Out Studio

This monograph shares unprecedented insights into Christo and Jeanne-Claude's early work Features archival images and photos of the artists' oeuvre published for the very first time Accompanies an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from 18 March to 15 June 2020 and at the PalaisPopulaire in Berlin from 21 March to 17 August 2020 In the fall of 2020, Christo will wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in silvery fabric for 16 days, returning to his signature style - after realizing The Floating Piers in Italy, the London Mastaba, and a quarter of a century after he and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Reichstag building in Berlin. As a prelude, a major exhibition at PalaisPopulaire in the German capital will celebrate this 25-year anniversary in the spring of 2020. At the same time, the Pompidou Center will pay tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude by staging The Pont Neuf Wrapped Documentary exhibition as well as a comprehensive show highlighting their early years in Paris. To accompany these events, Matthias Koddenberg, art historian and long-time friend of both Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who was the other half of the artistic duo until her death in 2009, has edited an elaborate collection of interviews. The book is composed of many conversations held between Koddenberg and Christo in the artist's New York studio over the last few years. With rare frankness, Christo describes how he fled from Bulgaria and made his way into the Western world. He talks about his time in Vienna and Geneva, his vibrant life in Paris that was full of hardship, and the fateful moment when he met Jeanne-Claude. This publication provides an exceptional inside view, uniting texts and numerous archival images and photographs, many of which have never been published before, or depict early works by Christo that have only recently been rediscovered.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Early Years: An Interview by Matthias Koddenberg

History & Criticism

Verlag Kettler

* A long-awaited new edition* Expanded and completely revised* Including 80 new photographs, some of which have never been published beforeChristo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) created some of the most breathtaking artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their projects radically questioned traditional conceptions of painting, sculpture, and architecture. This lavish photo book is the first comprehensive publication on the artists' oeuvre to be released after Christo's death in May 2020. It also serves as a curtain-raiser for Christo und Jeanne-Claude's last major project - the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which will be carried out posthumously in the fall of 2021. Presenting a wealth of photographs and studio snapshots from 1949 to 2020, some of which are private, this book allows an intimate peek behind the scenes of Christo und Jeanne-Claude's monumental installations which fascinated the public for decades. In addition to pictures capturing the artists at work, it includes photos documenting all of their major projects. Matthias Koddenberg (b.1984), art historian and close friend of the artists, spent many years compiling the more than 300 images featured in this volume. Among them are pictures taken by companions and friends and hitherto unpublished photographs from the artists' estate. Together they tell the extraordinary story not only of the couple's artistic collaboration, but also of their five-decade-long partnership.

From a party that never happened (the Cityrama II tour of Cologne planned by Wolf Vostell and Stefan Wewerka for March 2, 1962, which almost all the Nouveau Realisme artists were invited to), to a party that did (the group's festive anniversary celebration and dissolution in 1970), this comprehensive study tracks an influential movement closely. Includes detailed chronology.

Nouveau Réalisme

Köb, Edelbert

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Moderne Kunst Nürnberg

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