Package 1961

Christo, Package 1961, 1961, fabric and rope on wood, 29 x 24 ³⁄₄ x 8 in. (73.7 x 62.9 x 20.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2000.30, © 1961, Christo

Artwork Details

Title: Package 1961
Artist: Christo
Date: 1961
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 29 x 24 ³⁄₄ x 8 in. (73.7 x 62.9 x 20.3 cm)
Copyright: © 1961, Christo
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description: fabric and rope on wood
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Object — other — container
Object Number: 2000.30
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2000.30

Artwork Description

In his early twenties, Christo made his way from Bulgaria to Paris, and eventually settled in the United States in 1964. His journey took him from a communist society hidden behind the Iron Curtain to the democratic West, where he began creating ambiguous images of freedom and constraint. The abstracted contours of Christo's package tempt viewers with unseen contents. Its muffled forms might suggest something or someone fighting against very tight control. This work anticipates the monumental public projects he would later create with his wife, Jeanne-Claude (1935--2009), in which they swathed entire architectural structures in fabric, including The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris (1975--85) and Wrapped Reischstag in Berlin (1971--95).