The Nineties in America - Salem Press (2009)

of Fine Arts, but left for Paris after one semester. In
Paris, Christo found himself with no money or citi-
zenship and supported himself by painting por-
traits. During this period, he developed a love of sur-
realism and abstract minimalism.
In 1962, Christo married fellow artist Jeanne-
Claude, forming a lifelong artistic partnership.
Christo executed the projects, and Jeanne-Claude
handled public relations. The couple focused on
what would become Christo’s signature works, the
“wrapping” pieces. Although Christo began wrap-
ping objects and buildings with various materials in
1958, the large-scale pieces he undertook in the
1990’s made him a household name.
In 1990, Christo erected 1,340 blue umbrellas in
Ibaraki, Japan, and 1,760 yellow umbrellas in the
Tejon Pass in Southern California, each measuring
6 meters in height and 8.66 meters in diameter. The
project required more than two thousand workers,
cost more than $26 million to create, and was viewed
by more than three million people. It became associ-
ated with tragedy, however. On October 26, 1991, an
umbrella at the Southern California installation was
uprooted by a gust of wind and struck a woman, kill-
ing her. As a result, Christo ordered all the umbrellas
to be taken down, and a worker in Japan was electro-
cuted during this process.
After the umbrellas, the couple worked on wrap-
ping the Reichstag in Berlin. The project was ap-
proved by the German parliament on February 25,
1995, with veiling beginning on June 17, and com-
pleted seven days later. The government building
was covered with 100,000 square meters of fireproof
polypropylene fabric, then a layer of aluminum, and
finished with fifteen kilometers of rope.
Christo’s final project of the 1990’s,Wrapped Trees,
took place in Berower Park, Reihen, Switzerland, in
November, 1998. Christo wrapped 178 trees in the
park with 55,000 square meters of polyester and
twenty-three kilometers of rope. Unique patterns
were designed for each tree, creating distinctive
shapes in the sky.

Impact The environmental installations Christo has
created over the decades and throughout the 1990’s
encourage discussions of what constitutes art. While
the projects are always impressive in size, materials, la-
bor, and expense, they evoke a simplistic calmness
and serenity. Christo and Jeanne-Claude deny any
meaning to the wrappings other than their inherent

aesthetic value. They remain dedicated to making the

world “a more beautiful place” and to developing new

appreciations for familiar objects and landmarks.

The couple funds all of their projects through the

sales of preliminary sketches for each work.

Further Reading

Chernow, Burt.Christo and Jeanne-Claude: An Autho-

rized Biography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.

Chiappini, Rudy.Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Milan, It-

aly: Skira, 2006.

Ronte, Dieter.Christo and Jeanne-Claude: International

Projects.London: Philip Wilson, 2005.

Sara Vidar

See also Architecture; Art movements; Burning

Man festivals; Earth Day 1990; Koons, Jeff; Mapple-

thorpe obscenity trial; National Endowment for the

Arts (NEA); Photography.

 Christopher, Warren

Identification U.S. secretary of state, 1993-1997

Born October 27, 1925; Scranton, North Dakota

During his tenure as secretar y of state under President Bill

Clinton, Christopher helped to restore Jean-Bertrand

Aristide to power in Haiti and led the Dayton Accords to

end the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Having enjoyed a distinguished career in public ser-

vice under Democratic administrations, including

serving as deputy attorney general and deputy sec-

retary of state, Warren Christopher chaired the In-

dependent Commission on the Los Angeles Police

Department (LAPD), known as the Christopher

Commission, following the 1991 beating of black

motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police offi-

cers. After reviewing five years’ use-of-force reports,

civil cases, and internal LAPD communications, the

commission concluded that management had failed

to address policy violations. The commission pro-

posed reforms for the LAPD, which were over-

whelmingly approved by popular referendum.

In 1992, Christopher headed the vice presidential

search team for Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and

served as head of Clinton’s transition team after the

election. President Clinton tapped Christopher to

be his secretary of state. The first major interna-

tional challenge of his term occurred after Haitian

182
Christopher, Warren The Nineties in America