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XXL
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Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Umbrellas Japan/USA 1984–1991

1500

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Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s installation The Umbrellas united two countries under thousands of vibrantly colored parasols. This limited-edition boxed publication is signed and numbered by the artists and their exclusive photographer Wolfgang Volz. With rare preparatory drawings, permission negotiations, engineering descriptions, and actual fabric samples, it is an extensive project record, from concept to completion.

Limited edition of 2,500 copies worldwide, each signed and numbered by Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and Wolfgang Volz
Edition of 2,500Hardcover in slipcase15.4 x 13.7 in.20.37 lb1422 pages
Sold Out
Please check with your nearest TASCHEN store just in case
XXL
XXL books are a minimum 39 cm (15.4 in.)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Umbrellas Japan/USA 1984–1991

Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Umbrellas Japan/USA 1984–1991

1500

Japan/USA 1984-1991

Limited edition of 2,500 copies worldwide, each signed and numbered by Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and Wolfgang Volz

The first and only of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects to span two continents simultaneously, and one of their most spectacular and memorable creations: 1,340 six-meter-tall blue umbrellas were assembled and erected in Ibaraki, Japan, and 1,760 yellow umbrellas in California, USA. After months of grueling process, the two countries united as the forest of umbrellas were opened simultaneously on both continents. The blue symbolized the plenitude of water in the Japanese terrain, and the yellow represented the heat of the American valley. For Christo the umbrellas were “freestanding, dynamic modules... which reflected the availability of the land in each valley, creating an invitational, inner space.”

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s project The Umbrellas, Japan–USA, 1984–1991 was the most ambitious and expensive project they have ever undertaken. This comprehensive project book documents the art work from conception to completion:
  • Many preparatory drawings and collages created by Christo before the completion
  • Original documents of the permits negotiations with representatives of government agencies, 17 in Japan and 27 in the USA, the 459 rice farmers in Ibaraki and 26 ranchers in California
  • The engineering process of the umbrella superstructure, through manufacturing, and the installation of The Umbrellas
  • Entries from Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s diary
  • The book includes two 24 x 24 cm samples of the original fabric used for the blue and yellow umbrellas
  • The book is entirely designed by Christo

The umbrellas were removed after two weeks, but the memories of this unrepeatable and transient endeavor have been collected in this official book of documentation. Thousands of photographs, plans, sketches, notes and a retrospective text provide the core source material, covering every stage of the project from inception to aftermath. A very special edition indeed.
The artists

Christo and Jeanne-Claude began their collaboration in 1961, and lived in New York City since 1964. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009; Christo died in 2020. 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; The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005; The Floating Piers, Lake Iseo, Italy, 2014–16, The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016–18, and L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961–2021.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Umbrellas Japan/USA 1984–1991
Edition of 2,500Hardcover in slipcase39 x 34.7 cm9.24 kg1422 pages

ISBN 978-3-8228-7477-6

Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)
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