Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Bulgaria Born in: 1935 Masterpieces

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff was born in Bulgaria and studied fine arts in Sofia and Vienna before moving to Paris in 1958. There he met Jeanne-Claude, who became his muse and partner in exotic art. They married in 1962, moved to New York in 1964 and began making the ever-larger "environmental" artworks for which Christo became famous: wrapped fountains, bridges, buildings, and other public spaces.

Working with his wife and creative partner, Jeanne-Claude (Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon), he created some of the most spectacular large-scale artworks of the 20th century. They wrapped in fabric the Reichstag building in Berlin (1995) and the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris (1985), built a 25-mile fabric fence across Northern California (1975), and strung a huge orange curtain across a Colorado Valley (1972).

Their career (to date) culminated with "The Gates," which placed 7500 vinyl gates, with free-flowing orange nylon fabric panels, across 23 miles of Central Park walkways for 16 days in 2005.

Jeanne-Claude passed away on November 18, 2009 in New York.

Christo passed on May 31, 2020 in New York.