Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Back in print in an expanded edition, this richly illustrated survey of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's entire career is timed to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their acclaimed Gates project

Christo (1935–2020) and Jeanne‑Claude's (1935–2009) landscape-scaled, outdoor projects were astounding temporary works of art in public settings that captured headlines across the globe. For sixteen days in February of 2005, their most celebrated installation, The Gates—7,500 saffron‑colored fabric panels suspended from the tops of vinyl gates—stood along 23 miles of walkways in New York City's Central Park.

This book celebrates the twentieth anniversary of The Gates with photographs of their installation alongside reproductions of the preparatory drawings that Christo created as he planned the project. An essay by Jonathan Fineberg surveys the career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their life journey through projects such as Surrounded Islands in Miami, The Umbrellas in Japan and California, Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and many more. This expanded edition also includes an epilogue that considers the artists' works after The Gates—including Floating Piers in Italy and L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in Paris—and a 2017 interview Fineberg conducted with Christo, one of the artist's last.

This new edition is published on the occasion of two documentation exhibitions, curated by the artists in their lifetimes and presented to the public as the artists wanted them to be seen.

Exhibition Schedule:

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City

The Shed, New York

(February 12–March 23, 2025)

Surrounded Islands Documentation Exhibition

NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale

(Opens February 23, 2025)

“This expanded survey revisits the most notable projects of the international artist duo.”—New York Times Book Review

Praise for the First Edition:
 
“The definitive book that covers the entire creative process from its inception in the 1970s.”—Art Times
 
“Refreshingly jargon free. Fineberg keeps his own interpretations to a minimum in keeping with Christo’s complete avoidance of overlaying his work with interpretation.”—Victoria Keller,  Art Book
 
“By placing these pieces in the context of other texts and documentary photographs, this book makes abundantly clear that the artists’ visually stunning public installation work is not just the result of aesthetic choices but involves a commitment to community consultations, governmental approvals, and the technical challenges of materials and engineering.”—Choice

Jonathan Fineberg is director of the PhD in Creativity at Rowan University, trustee emeritus of the Phillips Collection in Washington, and the Gutgsell Professor of Art History Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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