Exhibitions
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the Running Fence
Special exhibition galleries, 3rd floor North, American Art Museum
April 2, 2010 – September 26, 2010
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Christo, Running Fence (Project for Sonoma and Marin Counties, State of California), 1976, pencil, fabric, staples, pastel, charcoal, wax crayon, technical data, black and white photograph on paperboard, 22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm) frame: 22 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. (56.5 x 71.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
In 2008, the Smithsonian American Art Museum acquired the definitive record of Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76, a major early work by world-renowned artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Running Fence, the culmination of forty-two months of collaborative efforts, was 24 1/2 miles long and 18 feet high, with one end dropping down to the Pacific Ocean. This monumental temporary artwork was made of 240,000 square yards of heavy woven white nylon fabric, 90 miles of steel cable, 2,050 steel poles, 350,000 hooks, and 14,000 earth anchors. Paid for entirely by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the completed Running Fence existed for only two weeks in September of 1976.
The exhibition includes components from the actual project, nearly fifty original preparatory drawings and collages, a 58-foot long scale model, and more than 240 photographs by Wolfgang Volz documenting the process and the many personalities involved with the project. Also included in the exhibition is a film by the legendary American filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, with Charlotte Zwerin. The film chronicles the unpredictable and ever-changing path that led to the completion of Running Fence. Janet Maslin, writing in the New York Times, described the film "Running Fence" as "the next best thing to having been there." A new film, Revisiting the Running Fence, co-produced by the museum and Wolfram Hissen from EstWest Films, recaptures the excitement that still vividly lives in the collective memory of the people who experienced the Running Fence, thirty-three years later.
The story of Running Fence is not only a story of the inexhaustible perseverance of two artists over nearly insurmountable odds to create a temporary artwork of joy and beauty, but also the story of the people, places, and events that would become what is known as Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76. This exhibition, organized by George Gurney, deputy chief curator, tells us that story.
The museum is grateful for the honorary participation and encouragement of these distinguished Californians: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House; Senator Dianne Feinstein; Senator Barbara Boxer; Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey; Congresswoman Doris Matsui; Attorney General Jerry Brown; and Mayor Gavin Newsom and First Lady Jennifer Newsom, San Francisco.
Book
The accompanying book, co-published by the museum and University of California Press, is written by Brian O'Doherty, artist and writer, with contributions from Elizabeth Broun, the museum's director; Ed Anderson, an attorney who represented the artists before Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors in the 1970s; and a foreword by Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. It will be for sale ($50 hardcover) in the museum's store and online.
Credit
The Smithsonian American Art Museum appreciates the support of these generous friends who contributed to the Running Fence exhibition and book: Edwin C. and Jeanne Anderson, George W. Cogan and Fannie Allen, David C. Copley, Louis Corrigan, Tania and Tom Evans, Shelby and Frederick Gans, Goldman Fund, Agnes Gund, Marin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Nion McEvoy, Joan and Alan Mirken, Steve Oliver, Bernard Osher Foundation, Anthony Otten and Janice Kim, Jeannie Schulz, Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal, Roselyne Swig, and Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan.
Recent News Articles
The Press Democrat, September 12, "Running Fence at 33," by Kevin McCallum
National Tour
This exhibition is available for tour to additional venues after closing at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition at your museum, please visit our traveling exhibitions page for contact information.
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