It was the summer of 1995, and crowds were gathered around the Platz der Republik to watch a group of rock climbers as they hung suspended down the historic Reichstag buidling. In a meticulously engineered choreography, the ornate stone facade disappeared beneath the cascading folds of glimmering plastic as the climbers unfurled the silver fabric. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Reichstag project was completed on June 24th, 1995, and remained for two weeks. Their press release stated, “The richness of the silvery fabric, shaped by the blue ropes, will create a sumptuous flow of vertical folds highlighting the features and proportions of the imposing structure, revealing the essence of the Reichstag” (Christo and Jeanne Claude, Press Release of Wrapped Reichstag, Project for Berlin, Christo and Jeanne-Claude Projects: Works from the Lilja collects ion, London 1995, p. 22). Indeed, the heaviness of its cold stone form was replaced by an ethereal shadow of what was once there, its weight dissipated beneath the billowing grey fabric. Kilometers of blue rope looped around the vertical folds, gently revealing the building’s form with the delicacy of a precious parcel.

The Reichstag was not only the physical site of encounter between the East and West, but a symbol of democracy and embodiment of Germany’s history. The wrapping marked yet another significant transition in the history of the nation, as the new Germany looked ahead to reinstate the building as the seat of the national parliament. In a transformative moment of political and cultural renewal, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Reichstag marked the beginning of a new Reichstag, a new Germany, and a new era of modern history.

A preliminary study for the Wrapped Reichstag project consisting of two parts, the present work is one of three original studies which were presented to the Bundestag to receive approval for the project. Indeed, the silvery, synthetic material of Christo’s choice was an essential element of the duo’s work. As stated in the press release, “fabric, like clothing or skin, is fragile, the Wrapped Reichstag will have the unique quality of impermanence. The physical reality of the work of art will be a dramatic experience of great visual beauty” (Ibid.). In the manner with which Donald Judd employed galvanized iron and Richard Serra splattered lead, Christo used fabric with characteristic boldness, tuning into its material qualities: the reflectivity of its surface, silver-grey colour of its synthetic thread, and the thickness of its folds. A swatch of this fabric, placed in the corner of the present work, is a reminder of his commitment to his medium.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s final vision is laid out beneath in his rendering of the wrapped building. The drawing reveals Christo’s vision for the project, with vertical folds and intersecting ropes stripping down the ornate baroque structure to its neoclassical form. Vertical ruled lines contain the building within the precision of its measured outlines, and the empty plaza creates stillness that amplifies the building’s monumentality. Preliminary studies, such as the present work, were crucial to the execution of the project in many ways. Not only were they the material manifestation of the couple’s lengthy planning process, but profits from sales of preparatory drawings, studies, scale models, and other original works, directly funded their larger scale site specific works. Created through a dialogue between the two artists, politicians and businessmen, artists and people of all parts of the social ecosystem, the Wrapped Reichstag project harnesses the communal energy and its potential to create something magnificent - a monumentality of soft delicacy rather than harsh solidity, embracing its temporality rather than seeking permanence.