Christo – Monuments Portfolio

Christo's Monuments Portfolio (1968) is one of the artist's most iconic early editions, created to finance his participation in documenta 4 in Kassel. This rare complete portfolio includes a scale model sculpture of the 5,600 Cubic Meter Package—a vinyl-coated fabric form bound with twine and mounted on green felt, measuring 68 cm in height. Alongside the sculpture, the signed limited edition features a collage of a two-part black-and-white screenprint on acetate with hinges, three color offset prints, and six black-and-white screenprints on Bristol board, each sheet measuring 70 × 54.5 cm.

The portfolio captures Christo's experimental approach to monumental wrapping projects and offers collectors a tangible link to the artist's groundbreaking interventions in public space. From a limited edition of only 100, each print, the collage, and title page is hand-signed and numbered by Christo, making this one of the most desirable and historically significant fine art editions by the artist.

Christo, working in close collaboration with Jeanne-Claude, is best known for monumental, temporary installations that radically transformed public spaces through the use of fabric and plastic. Iconic projects such as Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, and Surrounded Islands in Miami explored the relationship between architecture, landscape, and collective perception, emphasizing ephemerality as a central artistic principle. Designed to exist only briefly, these large-scale interventions were dismantled after completion, leaving behind preparatory drawings, prints, and signed editions as the primary enduring records of the artworks.

Prints and limited edition multiples played a crucial role in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s practice, serving both as autonomous artworks and as documentation of their ambitious projects. Through these signed editions, Christo translated the conceptual and visual intensity of temporary installations into collectible works on paper, extending their legacy beyond the physical lifespan of each intervention. Born in Bulgaria in 1935 and active internationally until his death in 2020, Christo remains a pivotal figure in contemporary art, redefining how audiences experience space, time, and artistic freedom.