Love is in the air, so In honor of Valentine’s Day, I (Kris) wanted to talk about a great artistic couple. I am not talking here about men and their muses, think Dalí and Gaia or Modigliani and Jeanne Hébuterne. I’m talking about the husband and wife team of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. I love their work, their collaboration, and the fact that they are textile artists. You may know them from their umbrellas in Japan and the US, the gates in Central Park, or the islands surrounded by pink. I’ll tell you below about when I got to view the Wrapped Reichstag in 1995.
Quick Facts about the Duo
- Christo and Jeanne-Claude were both born on June 13, 1935
- They met in 1958.
- Their first collaboration was in 1961.
- They immigrated to the United States in 1964.
- They produced work only under the name Christo until 1995. (Click here to read more about them.)
- Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009.
What is really the common denominator [of their work] is the use of fabric, cloth, textile. Fragile, sensual and temporary materials which translate the temporary character of the works of art.
Wrapped Reichstag
Until 1995, I had never had the opportunity to experience an artistic phenomenon. Witnessing the Reichstag (the building of the German parliament) being wrapped was, in the words of the Germans I encountered, “ein Happening.” It took over twenty years to get all the permissions, so it was just happenstance that I was in Berlin in the summer of 1995. I was able to watch the workers painstakingly wrap the building. You can see how they had to cover all the statues before wrapping the building. I thought it would be gray the entire time, but thankfully the skies brightened.
You can see how the Berliners embraced the project. Companies from the famous department store, Kaufhaus des Westens, to the native Berliner Kindl beer got into “wrapping.”
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I spent one day with my friends, Mary Beth and Gertrud, to enjoy the celebration. What an experience!
There are many better images of the building, but these are mine! In July it will have been 25 years since Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Reichstag and “came out” as an artistic duo. Until then, they had only used his name because they were fully aware of the prejudice against women artists. Women artists still get less respect than male artists.
Now the Reichstag has a transparent cupola to remind the German citizens of the importance of a transparent government. We should all remember what happens when governments take to secrecy.
P.S. You still have time to make a beautiful card for your loved ones. Click here to read Deb’s blog on creating a Valentine’s Day card.