“Christo lived his life to the fullest. He not only dreamed up what seemed impossible but also managed to make it a reality. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork unites people around the world, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories, "writes Christos co-workers in a post on the artist couple's official Facebook page.
Two unfinished worksBefore his death, Christo was in the process of completing two projects: a wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and "The Mastaba", a huge construction in the United Arab Emirates that would become the world's largest permanent sculpture, constructed of 410,000 barrels of oil.
The wrapped Triumphal Arch is scheduled to be unveiled in September next year. This summer, Center Georges Pompidou in Paris inaugurates a large retrospective of Christos and Jeanne-Claude's time in the French capital.
In 2017, the artist, who became a U.S. citizen in 1973, chose to scrap a planned giant artwork called "Over the river," in which a mile of the Arkansas River in Colorado would be covered by textiles for two weeks.
The work had been planned and prepared for over 20 years and so far cost just over SEK 140 million, but Christo's dissatisfaction with US President Donald Trump caused him to lose his temper.
- I use my own money, my own workforce and my own plans because I enjoy being completely free. But now the federal government owns the land and is our landlord. And I refuse to do a project that benefits this landlord, Christo told the New York Times.