Last September I was in Paris while teams of workers wrapped the Arc de Triomphe in curtains of mylar for a brief display as an art work by Christo, known for wrapping any number and all kinds of prominent monuments.
My first visit, September 7; some curtains installed inside the arch, and framework placed to protect sculptures and hold the remaining curtains.
Christo, who worked on most of his projects with his wife Jeanne-Claude, first proposed wrapping the arch around 1960, and began making concrete plans in the 1980s, but approval took a long time. In the meantime, Christo Javacheff, who usually went by only his first name, died in 2020. His wife had died in 1989.
By September 13, the work was almost done; just a small part on the west face, above, waiting for curtains
The project, however, did not die, and was completed by his team, using funds raised by selling his drawings, models and other materials. As was usual in his projects, no public money was involved.
And a last glance on September 15, taken from the Tour Montparnasse
Christo’s project, by the way, is not the first time the arch has been wrapped. This tri-color drapery (installed just in time for my oldest daughter’s high-school graduation trip to France) provided a covered work area for the monument’s major facade restoration in 1988.
