Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Max Lang Gallery, New York

Private Collection (acquired from the above circa 2006)

Sotheby's New York, 29 September 2015, Lot 59

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

“The work of art is a scream of freedom.” 

- Christo

Bulgarian-born artist Christo, who first received serious recognition for wrapping, tying, and covering familiar objects and monuments – from oil barrels and armchairs, to Berlin’s Reichstag and Paris’ Arc de Triomphe – is most widely recognized for his ambitious, temporary interventions in cityscapes and landscapes around the world. Celebrated for expanding traditional notions of art and pushing “people to think outside the canvas,” Christo’s spectacular site-specific works, which he created in collaboration with artist Jeanne-Claude for more than fifty years, continue to fascinate diverse audiences across the globe [1]. Wrapped Payphone, an object informed by the Duchampian tradition of the readymade and Christo’s experiences as a refugee and nomad – “cloth is the principal element to translate this,” he once stated -- offers the opportunity for collectors to own an important part of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s legendary oeuvre. Created in 1988, this work crucially incorporates the pair’s trademark technique of obscuring familiar objects to strip them of their utility, which in turn pushes viewers to see the everyday anew.

[1.] Lauter, Devorah. 2020. “’I Use the Capitalist System to the Very End’: Christo on What It’s Like to Achieve His Lifelong Dream of Wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in Fabric.” Artnet News, March 26, 2020. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/christo-pompidou-arc-de-triomphe-1812408