Christo, Who Wrapped the World, Dies at 84

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff — known to the world simply as Christo — died in May 2020, aged 84. With his late wife and partner Jeanne-Claude, he turned wrapping into one of the boldest art forms of the modern age.

Together they swathed Berlin's Reichstag in silver fabric, lined New York's Central Park with 7,500 saffron 'Gates', and floated piers of pink fabric on an Italian lake — vast, fleeting works seen by millions and owned by no one.

The couple funded everything themselves through the sale of preparatory drawings, refusing sponsors. 'I like to be totally free,' Christo once said — and few artists ever were, on quite such a scale.

Image: “MaterialReichstag” — joho345, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.