Living in Clips

On view for only 16 days, we were lucky enough to have seen this incredible oeuvre d’art in Paris in 2021. I think it was our first touristic outing in Paris as a family of three after the confinements of the pandemic. What in incredibly overwhelming feeling it was to behold such a grand masterpiece by Christo and Jeanne Claude.

The Arc de Triomphe was wrapped in 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope.

In 1961, three years after they met in Paris, Christo and Jeanne-Claude began creating works of art in public spaces. One of their projects was to wrap a public building. When he arrived in Paris, Christo rented a small room near the Arc de Triomphe and had been attracted by the monument ever since. In 1962, he made a photomontage of the Arc de Triomphe wrapped, seen from the Avenue Foch and, in 1988, a collage. 60 years later, the project was finally concretized.

It was entirely funded by the estate of Christo and recieved no public funds. Per Christo’s wishes, L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was completed by his team after his death.