Christo

CHRISTO (Bulgaria, 1935- USA, 2020).
"Over the River, Project For Arkansas River, State of Colorado", 2011.
Set of two drawings-collage (ref. 80A and ref. 80B).
Considered a single piece. Unique piece. With explanation on the back.
Signed in the lower right corner of the upper part (ref. 80A) and dated.
Attached certificate issued by Guy Pieters, Guy Pieters Gallery and signed by the artist.
Measurements: 39.5 x 244 cm (upper or ref. 80A) and 108 x 244 cm (lower or ref. 80B).

"Over the River, Project For Arkansas River, State of Colorado" was launched in 1992, when Christo, Jeanne Claude and their entire team traveled 22,530 km (14,000 miles) in search of the perfect location for its realization. During those trips, they prospected 89 rivers in a total of 7 states, finding 6 potential sites suitable for their ambitious goal. After revisiting all 6 sites in the summer of 1996, the Arkansas River in Colorado was selected as the site. The final plan included 9.5 kilometers of luminous silver fabric panels suspended over the water in eight different areas along a 67.6 kilometer stretch of the Arkansas River between Cañon City and Salida in south-central Colorado. At the bureaucratic level, Christo received all necessary federal, state and local permits to conduct Over The River in 2011, when the U.S. Department of Interior announced its Record of Decision. However, in 2012, a local group opposing this temporary artwork filed lawsuits against Colorado State Parks in State Court and against the U.S. Federal Government, Bureau of Land Management, in U.S. Federal Court. In January 2017, after pursuing the project for 20 years and going through five years of legal battles, Christo decided to put it aside and devote all his energy, time and resources to the realization of The Mastaba in the United Arab Emirates.

A renowned artistic couple of the late 20th century, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's wrapped objects are some of the most extreme examples of conceptual art. Christo Valdimirov Javacheff studied between 1952 and 1956 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, then spent a year in Prague. In 1957 Christo fled the socialist state and settled in Vienna, from where he would travel to Geneva and finally to Paris. His life in Paris was characterized by economic deprivation and social isolation, which was increased by his difficulty in learning the French language. He earned money painting portraits, which he likened to prostitution. In January 1958, Christo made his first piece of "wrapped art"; he covered an empty paint jar with a canvas soaked in acrylic. Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in Paris in November 1958. In 1961 he tackled what would be his first project with large objects, wrapping barrels in the port of Cologne. In 1962, Christo and Jeanne-Claude tackled their first monumental project, "Rideau de fer", as a statement against the Berlin Wall. The work consisted of blocking off Visconti Street over the river with oil barrels. Although Christo was simultaneously holding his first gallery exhibition, it was the Visconti project that made him known in Paris. In 1964 the couple settled in New York. In 1968 they participated in Documenta 4 in Kassel, and in 1969 they undertook one of their most famous projects, that of wrapping the Little Bay waterfront in Sydney, Australia. Since then, they have completed numerous large-scale projects around the world, including "Running fence" and "Wrapped walk ways" in the United States, "Pont Neuf" in Paris, "Umbrellas" in the United States and Japan, and the Reichstag building in Germany.