“Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped” by Christo and Jeanne-Claude was a temporary artwork in Paris from 18 September to 3 October, 2021.

The Arc de Triomphe was wrapped in 30.000 square meters silvery blue recyclable polypropylene fabric and tied up with 7 km of red rope.
The work was self-financed through sales of project documentation, including drawings and models, and the total cost was about 14 million euros.

Christo’s first thought of wrapping the Arc de Triomphe already came when he lived in Paris in 1961.
Jeanne-Claude died in 2009 so the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe was meant to be in her memory.

The planning began in 2018, and was originally planned for 2 weeks in April 2020, but was postponed to September 2020 due to nesting kestrels – and then further delayed a year due to Covid-19.
Sadly, Christo died in May 2020 so he never saw his project finalised – but his team nevertheless decided to cary out the artwork in his spirit and to honor his memory.

Actually, Christo and Jeanne-Claude met and married in Paris in the late 1950s – and in 1979 they started planning to wrap the Pont Neuf, which they were permissioned to do for 2 weeks in August 1985.

The photo was taken from the pedestrian crossing at Avenue Dutuit at a distance of 1,7 km from the Arc de Triomphe.