L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris: Christo and Jeanne-Claude by TASCHEN

This special Collector’s Edition from TASCHEN documents Christo and Jeanne-Claude's colossal installation in New York City's Central Park from conception to realization. The book is designed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude with texts by Jonathan Henery and photographs by exclusive photographer Wolfgang Volz.  It is a lasting and stunning souvenir of this remarkable work of art. Each copy comes with a 24 x 24 cm (9.4 x 9.4 in.) piece of the project’s original fabric and features over 100 preparatory drawings and collages, as well as 900 important documents, engineering drawings, technical data, maps, and 1,441 photographs from 1979 to 2005.

February 2005 marked the ephemeral installation of this monumental work of art in New York City’s Central Park. First conceived in 1979 and rejected by New York City government in 1981, the project was approved by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration in 2003. The work of art consisted of 7,503 16-foot-high vinyl gates with saffron-colored fabric panels on 23 miles of the park’s walkways.

Seen from the buildings surrounding the park, The Gates looked like a flowing saffron river, while those walking through them experienced the ambience of a fluid golden ceiling. Financed entirely by Christo and Jeanne-Claude through their C.V.J. Corporation, The Gates were assembled and installed by thousands of paid workers. Completed on February 12, 2005, The Gates remained in place for 16 days, after which they were removed and the materials recycled. The work of art was free for all visitors, who continued to use Central Park during the whole process.

Limited Collector’s Edition of 5,000 copies, signed and numbered by Christo and Jeanne-Claude and Wolfgang Volz, with original project fabric.

In Autumn 1998, after the trees around Fondation Beyeler and in the Berower Park had shed their leaves, Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped 162 trees—some up to 25 meters high—with 55,000 square meters of polyester fabric and 23 kilometers of rope. The effect of light and weather on the translucent material created a kind of amorphous sculptural choreography, an ever-changing variety of shapes, surfaces, and colors. The fabric, used every winter in Japan to protect trees from frost and heavy snow, lent the trees the appearance of precious and fragile objects.

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The Fondation Beyeler project was a pièce de résistance for Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and an extension and expansion of many years of interest in the concept of wrapped trees. By 1998, the artist pair renowned for their environmental interventionshad worked on trees for over three decades. In 1966, they wrapped a 10-meter-high tree in a personal exhibition in the Stedelijk van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven. In the same year they worked on a wrapped trees project for Forest Park in Saint Louis, Missouri, and in 1968 for the Museum of Modern Art In New York. In 1969, Two Wrapped Trees were exhibited in Sydney.

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Packed full of exclusive images and documentation, this volume traces the expansive history of Wrapped Trees as well as the project’s realization story, from start to finish. It includes preparatory drawings, collages, and plans from Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s archive, as well as numerous photographs of the final Wrapped Trees.

This iconic table is from the edition begun in 1963 under the supervision of Yves Klein’s widow, Rotraut Klein-Moquay, based on two models he designed in 1961.  Klein died unexpectedly in 1962 and other than these two original models owned by his estate there are no vintage tables. From 1963 to the present, the Yves Klein Archives has overseen the production of this coffee table and there has only ever been the one, continuous edition.  The estate does not recognize tables produced earlier in the edition as any more valuable than the brand new ones we sell today.  Each table has a signed and numbered placard of authenticity issued by the estate affixed to the underside. 

The table is available in the three materials most common to Klein's work: International Klein Blue (IKB) pigment, rose pigment, and gold leaf.  The tables are a controlled edition which means the estate produces a limited number each year. The exact number produced of each variation is not made public though, certainly in the early years, few, if any, tables were made. Over the last decade the tables have been in more demand but no more than about 40 - 60 tables in total, inclusive of all three variations, are produced each year.  

The table comes in one size, 14¼ h. x 49¼ x 39¼ inches (36 x 125 x 100 cm), and customization is not possible. The sides and base of the table are plexiglass but the top is a more durable glass making the table very functional and easy to maintain. The tables ship directly from the estate in Paris and must be installed upon arrival. If you are in the New York area then Artware will directly handle the installation. If you are elsewhere in the world, we will locate installers and oversee the process from beginning to end.

Artware Editions is the worldwide partner of the Yves Klein Archives based in Paris, France.

This iconic table is from the edition begun in 1963 under the supervision of Yves Klein’s widow, Rotraut Klein-Moquay, based on two models he designed in 1961.  Klein died suddenly in 1962 and other than these two original models owned by his estate there are no vintage tables. From 1963 to the present, the Yves Klein Archives has overseen the production of this coffee table and there has only ever been the one, continuous edition.  The estate does not recognize tables produced earlier in the edition as any more valuable than the brand new ones we sell today.  Each table has a signed and numbered placard of authenticity issued by the estate affixed to the underside. 

The table is available in the three materials most common to Klein's work: International Klein Blue (IKB) pigment, rose pigment, and gold leaf.  The tables are a controlled edition which means the estate produces a limited number each year. The exact number produced of each variation is not made public though, certainly in the early years, few, if any, tables were made. Over the last decade the tables have been in more demand but no more than about 40 - 60 tables in total, inclusive of all three variations, are produced each year.  

The table comes in one size, 14¼ h. x 49¼ x 39¼ inches (36 x 125 x 100 cm), and customization is not possible. The sides and base of the table are plexiglass but the top is a more durable glass making the table very functional and easy to maintain. The tables ship directly from the estate in Paris and must be installed upon arrival. If you are in the New York area then Artware will directly handle the installation. If you are elsewhere in the world, we will locate installers and oversee the process from beginning to end.

Artware Editions is the worldwide partner of the Yves Klein Archives based in Paris, France.