Christo, Artist Known for Wrapping Global Landmarks, Dies at 84

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, the renowned artist from Bulgaria celebrated for enveloping large structures, passed away at the age of 84, as confirmed on his official Twitter account. He and his spouse Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, whom he encountered in Paris in 1958, collaborated on monumental pieces, including the wrapping of Sydney's coastline in 1968, Paris's Pont-Neuf in 1985, and the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995. Born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1935, Christo pursued art studies in Sofia and theater design in Prague before defecting to the West in 1957. Their Wrapped Fountain in Spoleto in 1967 was a significant achievement. Following Jeanne-Claude's passing in 2009, Christo pursued projects like The Floating Piers in 2016, with plans to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris set for September 2021.