Christo

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 1971

Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und europäische Kunst der sechziger und siebziger Jahre, 1983-84, p. 55, no. 59, illustrated 

David Bourdon, Christo, New York 1970, no. 19, illustrated
Willy Rotzler, Objekt Kunst, Cologne 1972, p. 167, illustrated

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is deeper and richer with the fabric tending more towards ochre in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is overall wear to the legs and extremities of the chair with a fine crack at the bottom of one of the legs.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

"In Christo's art, materials have the same reality they have in everyday life. A packaged chair, for instance, is literal to the core – it consists of a real chair shrouded in real polyethylene. What is disturbing is that the packages confront us as almost ordinary objects of the real world. In one sense, there is nothing abstract in Christo's art: materials are used in a completely materialistic way, retaining their normal identity and function."

David Bourdon, Christo, New York 1970, p. 11

 

 

Executed in 1961, Two Packed Chairs reveals Christo's desire to re-contextualise an ordinary object, transforming it through the process of wrapping into an art work in its own right. Richly textured bands of material lavishly envelop two ordinary household chairs, uniting them in swathes of fabric creating a surface replete with textural details and symbolic meaning.

 

 

Just like the soap boxes and noodle soup packages of Andy Warhol, Christo's art engages with consumerist preoccupations of packaging and the transformation of ordinary objects into works of art. In the present work, although the tops are completely concealed, the protrusions and recessions under the rope and burlap reveal the angular details of the chairs' form. By keeping the legs exposed, Christo plays on the contradictory identity of the objects: although constrained and partially hidden, the physical realities of the chairs continue to make their presence felt from within. David Bourdon suggests that by obscuring the object's substance and denying its function, Christo makes his packages self-contradictions, caught "between the literal and the metamorphic" (David Bourdon, Christo, New York 1970, p. 11).

 

 

The process of wrapping physically transforms a recognised object into something mysterious by hiding its surface detail and simplifying its structure. The function of objects can become obfuscated by packaging, their purpose, identity and meaning obscured by extraneous material.  Alternatively, packaging can be seen as an enhancement of an object, something that adds an element of suspense and surprise: an obsolete object can be raised to a higher standing and importance through its wrapping. In the majority of instances, packaging denotes something of value, an object worthy of being 'gift wrapped'. Other connections have been made to religious burial rituals and the daily ritual of dressing. Christo's motivation for his wrapping of objects - and later, buildings, coastlines, bridges and gateways - remains elusive. If there is a concrete explanation from the artist, to the viewer it remains abstract and obscure.

 

 

With Two Packed Chairs, the chairs fall short of a complete transformation: by being almost completely wrapped, Christo creates a distance from their original function. Originally from a room in the Île Saint-Louis apartment where Christo and Jeanne-Claude stayed for several years in the 1950s, the chairs were a memento from an important period for the couple. By wrapping them in 1961, Christo is perhaps preserving a memory: the bands entwining the two chairs forever as a single entity could be read as alluding to their own unbreakable bond.