site.bta90th Birthday Anniversary of Bulgarian-Born Pioneering Artist Christo

Pioneering installation artist Christo was born in Bulgaria 90 years ago Friday.

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, visually impressive, and controversial installations, often of large landmarks and landscape elements wrapped in fabric. Their projects usually took years of careful preparation, including technical solutions, political negotiation, environmental permits, hearings and public persuasion. They refused grants, scholarships, donations or public money, financing the work via the sale of their own artwork instead.

Christo was born on June 13, 1935, in Gabrovo, Bulgaria. His father, a chemist, ran a textile dyeing business. Encouraged by his mother, a former assistant to the director of the Sofia National Academy of Art, Christo began to take drawing and painting lessons at the age of six. Christo studied at the National Academy of Art in Sofia between 1953 and 1956.

Christo left Bulgaria in 1956, first to Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1958, he went to Paris, where he met Jeanne-Claude, born on the same date in Morocco, who became his wife and life partner in the creation of monumental environmental works of art. Christo died on May 31, 2020, at 84, at his home in New York City, where he lived for 56 years.

From early wrapped objects to monumental outdoor projects, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s art went beyond the traditional bounds of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Some of their best known works include Wrapped Coast near Sydney (1968–69), Valley Curtain in Colorado (1970–72), Running Fence in California (1972–76), Surrounded Islands in Miami (1980–83), The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris (1975–85), The Umbrellas in Japan and California (1984–91), Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin (1971–95), The Gates in New York’s Central Park (1979–2005), The Floating Piers at Italy’s Lake Iseo (2014–16), and The London Mastaba on London’s Serpentine Lake (2016–18).

L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, a planned work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, went ahead posthumously in Paris in September 2021.

To mark the 90th anniversary of Christo’s birth, the National Library in Sofia opens a temporary exhibition on June 13 until June 15, presenting albums, individual sheet reproductions and postcards from the Library’s collection.

2025 marks not only the 90th anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's birth, but also key anniversaries of three of their most iconic projects: the 20th anniversary of The Gates in New York City in February, the 30th anniversary of Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin in June, and the 40th anniversary of The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris in September. To honor the legacy of the artistic couple, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation has organized a series of commemorative events and activities around the globe, the Foundation said on its website.

In New York City, the 20th anniversary of The Gates was celebrated with a series of special events. From February 12 through April 16, a large-scale augmented reality experience allowed visitors to relive The Gates in Central Park.

A major exhibition showcasing the 25-year journey of The Gates, as well as a selection of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's other visionary proposals for New York City, was on view at The Shed arts centre from February 12 through March 23.

In Florida, from February 23, 2025, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale presents the Surrounded Islands Documentation Exhibition, featuring original works by Christo, as well as photographs, engineering surveys, environmental studies, correspondence, original components, scale models, and other archival documents that trace the history of the project.

In Germany, Museum Wurth in Kunzelsau is currently hosting a major exhibition Wrapped, Tied, Stacked which started in November 2024 and closes on January 25, 2026, showcasing 60 years of the artists' creative journey. It showcases 130 original collages, drawings, scale models, photographs, and videos from the Wurth Collection, the largest collection of their work worldwide.

It took 24 years, meeting with 352 MPs, a 70-minute debate in the German Bundestag, for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Wrapped Reichstag project to finally come to life in June 1995, involving 100,000 square meters of silver fabric and drawing a total of five million visitors. In June 2025, to commemorate the project's 30th anniversary, a mapping projected onto the West facade of the building will offer a glimpse of what Wrapped Reichstag looked like in June 1995.

In September 2025, Paris will celebrate 40 years since Christo and Jeanne-Claude transformed the city's iconic Pont-Neuf into a monumental work of art. To mark this moment in art history, artist JR, in collaboration with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, plans to create an immersive installation inspired by the artist couple's legacy. Originally planned for fall 2025, the project is now expected to be on view in summer 2026.