Artwork Page for Wrapped Chair

Details / Information for Wrapped Chair

Wrapped Chair

1961

Christo

(American, 1935–2020)
Culture
America
Medium
wood, fabric, lacquer paint, and ropes
Measurements
Overall: 90 x 42.5 x 44 cm (35 7/16 x 16 3/4 x 17 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro 1996.29
Copyright
© Christo
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Christo and his partner, Jeanne-Claude, are known for their monumental wrapping of public buildings and sites using techniques seen in this chair.

Description

This sculpture is one of the earliest examples of Christo's signature style. His technique first incorporated the wrapping of everyday objects, including cans and bottles, stacks of magazines, furniture, and even an automobile, but led to the wrapping of public buildings and entire outdoor parks. This work uses a chair from the Paris apartment of Christo and his wife and partner, Jeanne-Claude. The use of drapery and concealment adds a layer of mystery to the chair's otherwise straightforward meaning. Christo was among a group of artists in France in the late 1950s who rebelled against the previous generation's fascination with abstraction. These nouveaux réalistes (new realists) chose to use real objects, rather than try to represent the items using other media. They preferred an art that was physical and tangible. Christo took this art one step further by "cloaking" reality, transforming and abstracting it.
Four-legged, dark brown, wood straight-backed chair partially wrapped in a grey-blotch stained cream cloth and secured with webbing ropes. The fabric covers the upper left side of the chairback before extending down to enwrap the entire chair base and part of the legs. Red stains a grey splotch on the front left seat corner. The intertwining ropes appear thin, frayed and dirty.

Wrapped Chair

1961

Christo

(American, 1935–2020)
America

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