Art lovers will get a rare glimpse into the private collection of one of the world’s best-known public art duos when Sotheby’s auctions works owned by artists Christo Javacheff and his wife Jeanne-Claude, in Paris in February.
Known professionally by their first names, Christo and Jeanne-Claude gained an international reputation starting in the 60s by draping entire buildings, bridges, island shorelines and New York’s Central Park in colorful fabric—temporary, free installations that often took years to organize and then attracted millions of visitors. After Jeanne-Claude died at age 74 in 2009, Christo carried on, most recently stacking around 7,500 oil barrels to form an Egyptian tomb-like “Mastaba” structure he floated in London’s Serpentine Lake two years ago. Christo died at age 84 in May.
Over the years, the couple amassed a collection of more than 400 objects they hung floor-to-ceiling in their New York home studio, including pieces they got as gifts or by swapping their own works with other postwar artists they admired, including Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein and Mimmo Rotella. Sotheby’s expert Simon Shaw said the sale by the estate of these pieces, which is estimated to top $4 million, brims with canvases and works on paper whose small scale contrasts with the artistic pair’s own outsize art.
“It’s the intimate universe the artists lived in, not their public persona,” said Mr. Shaw, adding that one fueled the other. “Every wall of their studio refracts elements we see in their practice.”
On one wall near the kitchen, there hung everything from an Andy Warhol from 1964, “Jackie,” which is estimated to sell for at least $975,000, to Klein’s 1958 “Untitled Blue Monochrome (IKB 19)” which is estimated for at least $375,000. On top of their refrigerator sat a couple of cookie jars that once belonged to Warhol, including one shaped like a bunch of bananas. It’s estimated to sell for $365.
