Package 1961

Christo, Package 1961, 1961, fabric and rope on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2000.30, © 1961, Christo
Christo, Package 1961, 1961, fabric and rope on wood, 2924 348 in. (73.762.920.3 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
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
2924 348 in. (73.762.920.3 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
Subjects
  • Object — other — container
Object Number
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).

Works by this artist (1 item)

Ruben Ochoa, What if walls created spaces?, 2007, lenticular print mounted on aluminum composite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.42A-D, © 2007, Ruben Ochoa
What if walls created spaces?
Date2007
lenticular print mounted on aluminum composite
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Hockey, 2007, Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2017.32.194, © 2007, David Levinthal
Untitled from the series Hockey
Date2007
Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film
Not on view
Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts, 2017, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Samuel and Blanche Koffler Acquisition Fund, 2018.1
The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts
Date2017
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Untitled, from the series Wagon Train
Date2018
pigment print mounted to dibond
Not on view