Christo & Jeanne-Claude Great Leaders

My definition of a good leader is someone who provides a vision and can inspire others and also has positive qualities like determination enthusiasm that others look up to, William Faulkner said “Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors, try to be better than yourself” I think this quote fits well with my artists Christo and Jeanne clued because they created art they loved and in doing so showed people how to look at objects and the world in a different way, things that seem ordinary are beautiful it depends on how you look at them. Their commitment to their vision of temporary art installations is something that had not been done on this scale before.

My presentation is on Christo and Jeanne Claude a married couple who were born on the same day in 1932.They met in Paris both 23 years old in 1958.Christo had studied fine arts in Vienna and Jeanne Claude was a self taught artist. They were installation artists who worked in the field of temporary art. Only Christos’ name was used on their art for 30 odd years, Jeanne Claude name was added in 1994.

They settled in New York. Jeanne Claude died in 2009 at the age of 74.

My first main idea is the environment that inspired them to work in the way they did. My second main idea is about how their work reflects the social environment of the time. My third main idea is about how Christo and Jeanne Claude's work has impacted upon the world of temporary art. 

They showed Leadership in their field of temporary art works which used the environment but also gathered together communities and huge teams of people to create the works which were self funded. They were also the first artists to voluntarily conduct human and environmental impact reports for their projects and all the materials used were able to be recycled long before this became fashionable. ​

Because their art was in public places it was accessible to anyone walking past, and not just shut it a gallery for only art enthusiasts, thus also presenting the idea of art in a new way. They said that once the art was removed people would not visit those places again without viewing that place itself in a different way. They wanted to encourage people to widen their views of how things looked. They used man made constructions to achieve this

They fit my definition of good leaders because they managed to achieve what they set out to do and worked hard to bring their project to fruition. They were able to inspire people with their visions, mostly larger than life and created work for unskilled labor and skilled labor.

They showed that hard work and tenacity, even when it took years to get approval for their projects. The negotiations were often complex- involving community’s councils and at times even parliaments. Another example of the tenacity involved was how long the works took from inception to completion.

32 years for the wrapped trees 1966-88 

years for the Reichstag 1971-2005.

10years for the Pont Neuf 1975-8

They were creative and free ranging their art was created in many different countries. It’s amazing that despite the millions of dollars these projects often cost they were always funded by themselves-to do this they would sell the early images and plans of the works.

Albert Elsen concedes that there is “no rational purpose for their projects, they do not satisfy practical needs. They are their own reason for being”-Which might serve as the definition of art for art’s sake.

My first main idea is the environment that inspired them to work in the way they did. Coming from new realism they used what around them and changed it usually by wrapping, to change the way in which we see things.

Huge environments were changed to encourage the viewer to see the environment with new eyes how the wind blew or the sun reflected light would change at any given time.

In this way peoples reality was changed. After the art was dismantled people would continue to remember this experience. Altering the environment to expose us to other new experiences.“Revealing an object by concealing it” is what they do and was even the title of Rudy Chinappini’s book about them.
Christo said “there is no deeper meaning to their works than the visual impact- the joy beauty and the memory of this that will continue to ​

My second main idea is about how their work reflects the social environment of the time, yet was ground breaking and changed the way we view art. The wrapping of Germany’s most powerful symbol the Reichstag parliament building, which represented both the good and bad in Germany’s history. After breaking down of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany the Reichstag was seen as a symbol of a new beginning, fostering hope and confidence. Its wrapping inspired people to see it in this way . Christo had grown up under a communist regime and had fled to the west so Germany’s history was personal to him. Quote “to change for a brief moment what we see and its function is to see beauty in a different way.”

​My third main idea is about how Christo and Jeanne Claude's work has impacted upon the world of temporary art. The idea of how the environment becomes a sculpture and then afterwards becomes innocent again. Despite often experiencing opposition to the works it has been said in the end 100% of people will be happy. 80% to have seen it and 20% after it has been pulled down” This quote reflects the optimism of this formidable team –hard workers with great organizational skills (she was a generals daughter) inspiration and an ability to deal with the complex logistical processes involved to create transformation they were good leaders. Our lives improve only when we take chances.

The mediocre leader tells and good leader explains a superior leader demonstrates great leaders inspire.
Buchholz and Roth

Christo said “I think it takes more courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.”

Outward bound. (n.d.) The Challenge of Words. New Zealand: Outward Bound

Baal-Taschen, J.(1995) Christo & Jeanne Claude.Kolin: Taschen

Philippi. S(ed.),(2005) Christo & Jeanne Claude-The Gates Central Park, New York City 1979-2005.New York: Taschen

christojeanneclaude.com