The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City

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Medium

collage with photograph by Wolfgang Volz, printed map, enamel paint, graphite, wax crayon, and tape on paperboard

Dimensions

Overall: 35.6 x 27.9 cm (14 x 11 in.) framed: 36.3 x 28.6 x 3.3 cm (14 5/16 x 11 1/4 x 1 5/16 in.)

Classification

Drawing

Department

CG-W

Museum

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Credit

Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection

Accession Number

2001.9.1

Art Historical Context

Christo, the visionary artist known for his monumental, temporary environmental installations often created with his late wife Jeanne-Claude, presents *The Gates, Project for Central Park, York City* (1996) as a captivating preparatory drawing. This collage envisions thousands of towering, saffron-colored fabric gates lining the winding paths of New York City's iconic Central Park, transforming the urban oasis into a vibrant, flowing ribbon of color. Though realized nearly a decade later in 2005, this 1996 study captures the project's ambitious spirit during its long planning phase, highlighti...

About the Artist

Christo

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, born on June 13, 1935, in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, emerged from a childhood marked by wartime upheaval and a bohemian family environment that nurtured his artistic inclinations. The second of three sons to a textile manufacturer father and a politically active mother who worked at Sofia's Academy of Fine Arts, Christo received private art lessons from a young age, with his ...

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