Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Temporary projects, eternal impressions

The life and work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, in a book designed by Christo himself

"Nobody discusses a painting before it has been painted. Our projects are discussed and argued about, pro and con, before they are realized." —Christo

The work of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude transcends borders, resists categorizing, and embraces contradiction. This is the only large-format book that includes all of their projects, from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's works from 1958 to urban and rural temporary works of art, such as The Gates in Central Park, the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and Running Fence in California. Part biography, part critical analysis, part catalogue, the book has a lively text by the critic Paul Goldberger that traces both the lives and the works of an artist couple who established a category all their own: a category somewhere between conceptual art, urban planning, architecture, politics, engineering and art.

This volume gives a detailed overview of the life and work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, from early drawings and family photos to plans for future projects. It features hundreds of previously unpublished photographs, drawings and plans for realized works, an incisive and detailed history spanning the entire oeuvre, and in-depth interviews, in a lavish edition designed by Christo himself. In addition to a thorough photographic documentation of all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work, the book includes the transcript of a conversation between the artists and Paul Goldberger, the last conversation about her work that Jeanne-Claude had before her death in late 2009. Conceived originally to mark Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 75th birthdays, this book is now an eloquent homage to Jeanne-Claude, and a celebration of the work of two artists whose imagination has affected the landscape of every continent.

Collector's Edition of 1,000 copies, numbered and signed by Christo.
Also available in an Art Edition of 100 copies, with an original Pigment/silk screen print, signed by Christo. The copies no. 1 to 6 are accompanied by original works of Over The River, Project for Arkansas River, State of Colorado or The Mastaba, Project for United Arab Emirates.

About the artist:
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have worked in collaboration since 1961, and lived in New York City since 1964. Their large-scale projects include Wrapped Coast, Australia, 1968–69, Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970–72, Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972–76, Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Florida, 1980–83, The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975–85, The Umbrellas, Japan–USA, 1984–91, Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971–95, Wrapped Trees, Riehen, Switzerland, 1997–98 and The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009.

About the photographer:
Wolfgang Volz has worked with Christo and Jeanne-Claude as the exclusive photographer of their works since 1971. He was also project director (with Roland Specker) for Wrapped Reichstag and (with Josy Kraft) for Wrapped Trees, and was in charge of The Wall, 13,000 Oil Barrels, 1999. His close collaboration has resulted in many books and more than 300 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world.

About the author:
Paul Goldberger is the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the "Sky Line" column, and the author of several books, most recently Why Architecture Matters (2009). He lectures widely on architecture, design, historic preservation and cities, and has taught at both Yale School of Architecture and the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.