L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Last Updated on 25th February 2023 by Sophie Nadeau
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L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped is a once in a lifetime project that sees a major Parisian monument transformed into a larger than life art installation that moves with the wind and forces even Parisians themselves to stop and think and re-evaluate their city in a new light.
The project was on display in Paris on the Place de l’Étoile square from Saturday the 18th September right up until Sunday the 3rd October 2021. Unfortunately Christo passed away before the final wrapped project was unveiled.
A project which was realised over the course of the past four years, Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was the latest installation by the foundation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
On display over the course of three weeks, each weekend of the installation saw the famous roundabout surrounding the Arc de Triomphe (notable for its large motorised traffic jams) pedestrianised so that people could walk right up to the installation to admire and touch the silvery-fabric shrouding the historical monument for themselves.
Who are Christo and Jeanne-Claude?
Born on exactly the same day, the 13th June 1935, Christo (who passed away in 2020) and Jeanne Claude (who passed away in 2009) were large-scale installation artists. Originally the art works were credited in just Christo’s name, though this was later changed to Christo and Jeanne Claude.
The two have ‘wrapped’ up all sorts of iconic landmarks, both natural and manmade in the past few decades. From a rocky outcrop of Austrlia’s coastline to the Reichstag in Berlin, the artists were limited only by their imagination.
One of the biggest controversies surrounding their most recent project, ‘Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped’ is the cost: 14 million euros to be precise. But what critics and fans alike should note about the work of the Christo and Jeanne Claude Foundation is that the work is all auto-financed. That is to say that the foundation themselves have paid for the wrapped project.
The Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped project
As its name would suggest, the breathtaking scale of the project to ‘wrap’ the French monument has seen 25,000 square metres of silver-hued recyclable fabric tied in place by 7,000 metres of red rope. The colours used for the project were supposed to represent the French flag, which is of course, red, white, and blue.
On weekends for the duration of the display of the Arc de Triomphe installation, the famous roundabout surrounding the triumphal arch was pedestrianised so that visitors could walk right up to the famous Parisian monument.
The project was created as a collaboration between the Christo and Jean-Claude Foundation and the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN)- the government body who manage the preservation and continuation of the Arc de Triomphe as a national monument. In total, over 6 million people went to see the installation!
