The Christo and Jeanne-Claude team will create L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (project for Paris, place de l’Étoile – Charles de Gaulle), as Christo wished this project to be continued after his death. On view for 16 days from Saturday, September 18th to Sunday, October 3rd, 2021 L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped will use 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and 3,000 meters of red rope of the same fabric.
The Centre des monuments nationaux, the government institution that manages the Arc de Triomphe, is pleased about the realization of a project that demonstrates its commitment to contemporary creation and that honors one of the most emblematic monuments in Paris and in France. The monument and its terrace will remain open to the public throughout the project.
STORY OF THE PROJECT In 1961, three years after they met in Paris, Christo and Jeanne-Claude began imagining and creating temporary works of art in public spaces. In 1962-63, Christo made a photomontage of the Arc de Triomphe wrapped, seen from the Avenue Foch, then, in 1988, a collage, before working again and developing the project from 2017. Almost 60 years later, the project will be concretized.
The project was submitted to the Centre des monuments nationaux by the Centre Pompidou and is supported by the Paris city council. In 2020, the Centre Pompidou presented the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Paris!, which retraced Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s years in Paris from 1958 to 1964, as well as the story of The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Project for Paris, 1975-85.