Arc de Triomphe wrapped as a tribute to late artist Christo

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Arc de Triomphe wrapped with a giant sheet of fabric to show the tribute to late artist Christo. This giant sheet of fabric was draped down the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday.

After weeks of preparations, the final stage of the art installation has begun, with a silver-blue sheet of recyclable polypropylene unfurled from the top of the imposing war memorial at the top of the Champs-Elysees.

Over the next few days, the entire Arc will be wrapped in 25,000 square metres (270,000 square feet) of fabric — the signature of Bulgarian-born Christo, who died last year.

He had dreamed of sheathing the 50-metre-high monument since renting a nearby apartment in the 1960s. But despite completing other major public works during his lifetime, including wrapping the oldest bridge in Paris in 1985 and the German parliament in 1995, the Arc de Triomphe project never materialised before his death.

The completion of his vision — and that of his co-designer and wife, Jeanne-Claude — has been overseen by his nephew Vladimir Javacheff in coordination with the Pompidou museum and French authorities.

Javacheff  said that today is one of the most spectacular moments of the installation. The wrapped Arc de Triomphe starts to take form and approach the vision that was a lifelong dream for Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

It is due to be completed on Saturday, after which the protective barriers will be removed and the public allowed to get up close to the transformed monument. The wrapping will then stay in place until October 3.

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