Christo, Wrapped Telephone, 1963. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
This article was published on the 13th of June, and that was quite intentional.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born 90 years ago on exactly the same day: 13 June 1935. This year, the global art world calendar celebrates the artist couple, whose works transcended traditional art spaces to meet the public head-on. Phillips also celebrates them this month in London, offering a remarkable collection of their works that has been amassed over decades by a single owner who held a close personal relationship with the artists. On this milestone anniversary year, these works are being offered so that other collectors may carry their story forward.
Famous for their monumental, temporary public installations, Christo and Jeanne-Claude entirely self-funded their projects by selling the kinds of sketches, drawings, and collages on offer here. In doing so, they decisively resisted the conventions of the art market, insisting on their projects’ independent, public, and temporary nature beyond the bounds of ownership, commercialization, and exclusivity. They collaborated under only Christo’s name until 1994.
Comprising 32 lots, works from this collection highlight cornerstones of the artists’ practice, many of which also hold significant anniversaries this year: 2025 is the 20th anniversary of The Gates in New York City, the 30th anniversary of Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and the 40th anniversary of The Pont Neuf, Wrapped in Paris.
Christo, The Pont Neuf, Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1985. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
Visitors to Paris this year will encounter Projet Pont-Neuf by the artist JR in collaboration with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. The new work is an immersive installation inspired by Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Pont Neuf, Wrapped (Project for Paris), which will temporarily transform the bridge, celebrating Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s legacy with a major cultural event.
As the first public urban project realized on such an architectural and public scale, the Pont Neuf Wrapped occupies a special place in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s oeuvre. The idea of wrapping the oldest bridge in Paris was initially rejected by then-mayor Jacques Chirac, who signed the permit approval only after a long and relentless period of lobbying orchestrated by the artists. The response of the public was nothing short of sensational: the installation attracted three million visitors and the press was enchanted.
Christo, Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin), 1986. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
In the evenings through 20 June in Berlin, the west façade of the Reichstag will showcase a projection mapping of Wrapped Reichstag, offering the public a chance to discover what the building looked like in June 1995. The original work took 24 years to execute, involved the artists meeting with 352 members of parliament, and included a seventy-minute debate in the German Bundestag.
Executed in 1986, Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin) is a supreme example of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s meticulously conceived preparatory collages. The Reichstag was one of only three buildings — along with The Kunsthalle, Bern, in 1968 and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, in 1969 — that the artist couple was able to fully wrap, realizing their intended project beyond the conceptual stage.
I often say, ‘Our work is a scream of freedom.’
—Christo
Christo, The Gates (Project for Central Park NYC), 2005. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Gates, a large-scale augmented reality (AR) experience offered a taste of the original work in Central Park in February and March. Concurrently, the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City was held at The Shed.
A landmark in the history of public art, The Gates remains an enduring testament to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s vision, perseverance, and unrivalled ability to transform public space. Conceived in 1979 and realised only 26 years later, the project saw 7,503 vivid saffron-coloured gates unfurl across the winding paths of Central Park in February 2005. Designed to engage and enliven the city’s collective spirit in the wake of 9/11, The Gates drew over four million visitors in just sixteen days. The only public project realized by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in New York City, The Gates stands as a monument not of permanence, but of vision: transient, philosophical, and unforgettable.
Christo, Package, 1963. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
Elsewhere in this collection, we find further notable works, including Christo's foundational early “package” works, which laid the conceptual and aesthetic groundwork for their later iconic wrappings. Christo began his wrapping experiments in 1958, shortly after escaping Bulgaria as a young refugee hidden in the back of a truck. What started as a practical act of wrapping his belongings was initially interpreted by some as a reference to mummification. However, his goal was not to preserve but to dematerialise, removing both practical and symbolic meaning to create something ambiguous.
Both conceptually and physically, these works are as much about concealment as they are about openness. While the wrapping shrouds, it also intrinsically invites engagement, prompting viewers to project their thoughts onto what remains unseen and to participate intimately in the work’s interpretation. It's this engaging quality, this invitation to participate in their works, that accounts for their undeniable appeal.
Christo, Wrapped Cans and Bottle, 1958–1959. Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale London.
Discover more from Modern & Contemporary Art >
Recommended Reading