Christo and Jeanne-Claude, WRAPPED REICHSTAG (PROJECT FOR BERLIN) - SIGNED, 1994

This rare signed print with raised thermal paper was created in 1994 to raise funds for Christo's iconic Wrapped Reichstag project (1986–1994). It is signed in blue crayon by Christo and was sold by his Berlin based publisher, United Arts, to raise funds for the project. It is especially rare when signed, and uncommon stateside. There were several signed lithographs published to raise funds for this event; however, limited edition hand signed prints like this, with the raised silver thermal paper, are the most collectible. Although this particular work is unnumbered, it was thought to have been published in an edition of about 100. The project to wrap the German Parliament building was conceived by Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude in the early 1970s, but was not realized until the 1990s. The structure was wrapped in polypropylene fabric, with 17,060 yards of bright blue rope holding it tight against the 220 tons of steel structure to which the wrapping was attached. A New York Times feature on the project described it as follows: "Wrapped Reichstag, by Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, is at once a work of art, a cultural event, a political happening and an ambitious piece of business. It has got Berlin into more of a celebratory mood than anything since the fall of the wall .... and as the immense project of wrapping the 101-year-old German Parliament building in more than a million square feet of aluminum-colored fabric nears its completion, crowds gather day and night to gawk, to cheer as sections of cloth are unfurled, and to watch for glimpses of the New York artist couple who are treated here like rock stars."
Paul Goldberger, who wrote the Times feature, describes the cultural, as well as aesthetic impact of wrapping the Reischstag at that moment in history. "This immense stone hulk, a heavy, bombastic building that epitomizes German excesses of the late 19th century, is rendered light, almost delicate. It takes on an ethereal beauty, and looks as if it could float away into the silvery, cloudy Berlin sky."

The work comes ready to hang in the original frame.
Published by United Arts, Berlin, Germany
Overall Size: 15.25 x 11.5 in. (38.74 x 29.21 cm.)
Framed Size: 16.5 x 12.75 in. (41.91 x 32.38 cm.)

Signature: Boldly hand signed lower left by Christo in blue crayon; also plate signed underneath the top image.

Publisher: United Arts, Berlin