Cynthia Lake: The Umbrellas, Christo and Jean Claude
CAE2204
Summary Note
Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude undertook a monumental environmental project that occurred simultaneously in California and Ibaraki, Japan, utilizing large-scale umbrellas.Biographical Note
Christo (1935-2020) attended the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria, and had begun working with the Burian Theatre in Prague when the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 broke out. He fled to Vienna, where he studied for a semester, and then, after a brief stay in Switzerland, moved to Paris and began exhibiting his works with the nouveaux réalistes. While working there as a portrait artist, Christo met Jeanne-Claude de Guillebon (1929-2009), whom he married in 1959. Jeanne-Claude was once described as her husband’s publicist and business manager, but she later received equal billing with him in all creative and administrative aspects of their work. In 1964 the pair relocated to New York City, where their art was seen as a form of Arte Povera, an Italian art movement that challenged conventional art elitism through experiments with everyday materials. Christo’s earliest sculptures were composed of cans and bottles—some as found and some painted or wrapped in paper, plastic, or fabric.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s first collaborative works included Dockside Packages (1961; Cologne), Iron Curtain—Wall of Oil Drums (1962; Paris), and Corridor Store Front (1968; New York City). In 1968 they also completed a suspended 18,375-foot (5,600-metre) “air package” over Minneapolis, Minnesota, and “wrapped buildings” in Bern, Switzerland; Chicago; and Spoleto, Italy. Their monumental later projects included Valley Curtain (1972; Rifle Gap, Colorado), Running Fence (1976; Marin and Sonoma counties, California), and Surrounded Islands (1983; Biscayne Bay, Florida). In 1985 in Paris, they wrapped the Pont Neuf (bridge) in beige cloth. In a 1991 project, the couple installed 1,340 giant blue umbrellas across the Sato River valley in Japan and 1,760 giant yellow ones in Tejon Pass, California. Four years later they wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin in metallic silver fabric. In 1995 the couple received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for sculpture. The Gates was unveiled in 2005. Stretching across 23 miles (37 km) of walkway in Central Park, the work featured 7,503 steel gates that were 16 feet (5 meters) high and decorated with saffron-colored cloth panels. The Gates was on display for 16 days and attracted more than four million visitors.
Scope and Content
In an effort to bridge two cultures and two continents, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude undertook a monumental environmental project that occurred simultaneously in California and Ibaraki, Japan. In October 1991, a team of 1,880 people erected 3,100 yellow and blue umbrellas across the inland valleys of these two distinct regions. Three million visitors traveled to see the installation. Preparations for the project began in 1984. The artists felt it was important to fabricate the umbrellas near to where they would be installed. They worked with a California-based company to design and prototype the umbrellas. This gift is made directly from the family of the company that manufactured the Umbrellas in California, Rain for Rent.
Materials include documents, exhibition ephemera, postcards, a poster, fabric samples, a patch, a pin, a mug, a t-shirt, raffle tickets, magazine articles, and an envelope.
Arrangement
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Related Archive Collections
- CAE1804: Gianfranco Gorgoni: Land Art Photographs
Related Publications
Baal-Teshuva, Jacob. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Köln, Germany: Taschen, 1995.
Christo and Jean Claude. The Floating Piers: Lake Iseo, Italy, 2014 - 2016. Köln, Germany: Taschen GmbH, 2016.
Christo, and Jean Claude. Christo and Jean Claude: The Floating Piers: Lake Iseo, Italy. New York, NY: Taschen America LLC., 2016.
Christo, and Jean Claude. The Gates: Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005. Köln, Germany; London, England: Taschen, 2005.
Christo, and Marina Veizey. Christo. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1990.
Christo. Christo : Wrapped Walk Ways: Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri, 1977-78. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1978.
Christo. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Cologne, Germany: Taschen, 2019.
Christo. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Tom Golden Collection. Santa Rosa, CA: Sonoma County Museum, 2001.
Christo. Christo the Umbrellas: Project for Japan and Western U.S.A. Sl: s.n, 1987.
Christo. Christo, Collection on Loan from the Rothschild Bank AG, Zurich. La Jolla, CA: La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, 1981.
Christo. Christo, Running Fence: Sonoma and Marin Counties, California 1972-76. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1978.
Christo. Christo, The Gates Project for Central Park. New York, NY (60 East 86th St., New York 10028): Christo and C. V. J. Corporation, 1981.
Christo. Christo: Oceanfront. Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University; distributed by Princeton University Press, 1975.
Christo. Christo: Project for Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin; Collages, Drawings, Scale Model and Photographs; November 15 - December 10, 1977. London: Annely Juda Fine Art, 1977.
Christo. Christo: Projects not Realised and Works in Progress: 8 March-6 April 1991. London, England: Annely Juda Fine Art, 1991.
Christo. Christo: Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1973.
Christo. Over the River: Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado. Hong Kong, China; Los Angeles, CA: Taschen, 2008.
Christo. The Accordion-fold Book for the Umbrellas, Joint Project for Japan and U.S.A. San Francisco, CA: Bedford Arts, 1991.
Christo. The Floating Piers: Lake Iseo, Italy, 2014 - 2016. Köln, Germany: Taschen, 2016.
Christo. Wrapped Coast, one Million sq. ft.: Little Bay, New South Wales, Australia, 1969. Minneapolis, MN: Contemporary Art Lithographers, 1969.
Delbaere, Stefaan. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Brussel, Belgium: Vlaams Europees Comferentiecentrum,, 1997.
Fineberg, Jonathan David. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: On the Way to The Gates, Central Park, New York City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press in association with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004.
John Gibson Gallery. Christo: Projects of Packages, Storefronts, and Barrels for The National Gallery, Rome. New York, NY: John Gibson, 1967.
John Gibson Gallery. Christo: The Australian Projects. November 1 - thru November 28. Scale Models, Collages, Drawings and Photographs of the 1,000,000 Square Foot "Packed Coast" Realized at Little Bay, near Sydney. New York, NY: John Gibson, 1969.
John Gibson Gallery. Ecological Art: Andre, Christo, Dibbets, Hutchinson, Insley, Long, Morris, Oldenburg, Oppenheim, Smithson. New York, NY: John Gibson, 1969.
John Gibson Gallery. Performance & Activities: Vito Acconci, Christo, Hamish Fulton, Dan Graham, Peter Hutchinson, Allan Kaprow, Gordon Matta, Dennis Oppenheim, Michael Snow & Others. New York, NY: John Gibson, 1970.
Sugar Up. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005: February 12 to 27, 2005: The Gates Views: A Companion to the Gates Map. New York NY: Central Park Conservancy, 2005, 2004.
Sugar Up. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005: February 12 to 27, 2005: The Gates Views: The Gates Map, a Guide for Walking the Gates. New York NY: Central Park Conservancy, 2005, 2004.
Container Listing:
CAE Box 231
- Folder 1 Previous Projects, 1962 – 1985
- Folder 2 Rain for Rent, 1991 – 2001
- Folder 3 Project Ephemera, 1985 – 1993
- Folder 4 Press Materials, 1990 – 2021
Additional Materials
- 3#23 Christo, The Umbrellas Joint Project for Japan and U.S.A., Pin, not dated
- 3#22 The Umbrellas Tejon Pass USA, T-shirt, 1991
- 1#23 Les Affiches d’Art / The Art Prints / Die Kunstdrucke, Poster, 1996