A remarkable six million people came to see the Arc de Triomphe completely wrapped in fabric, a massive project by the late artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude, according to estimates released this week.
Of the 6 million visitors, 3.2 million were tourists to Paris. The remaining 2.8 million who came to see the masked Arc De Triomphe were Parisians and residents of the metropolitan region, according to an economic impact report.
The French landmark was adorned with 25,000 square metres of silvery-blue fabric and 3,000 metres of red rope between September 18 and October 3.
The project – called Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped – had been planned for decades but the duo did not live to see its completion. Christo died on May 31, 2020, in New York at the age of 84. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009 at 74.
The project cost a whopping US16.4 million and wrapped the 50-metre square icon in a recyclable plastic curtain.
The pair created sensations with their massive, and fleeting, installations. One of their best-known spectacles was the wrapping of Berlin’s Reichstag in 1995.
The Arc de Triomphe probably won’t be their final act, either, as plans are afoot to posthumously realise other ambitious works concocted by the pair.
Via AAP
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