From Publishers Weekly
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists responsible for such memorable wrapped pieces as "Surrounded Islands" (bright pink fabric floating around 11 islands in Biscayne Bay in Florida), and "Running Fence" (2.3 million square feet of fabric stretching down to the ocean in Sonoma and Marin counties in California), have been planning a major piece in New York City since they arrived in 1964. Unfortunately, their ideas, which included wrapping the Museum of Modern Art, were continually stymied both by private owners and the city. In near-giddy anticipation, this book from art historian Fineberg (The Innocent Eye) offers 50 b&w and 160 lush color illustrations, meticulously and compellingly contextualized, of the 7,500 saffron-colored vinyl panels they plan to suspend along the walkways of New York's Central Park in February 2005. First conceived in 1979, it will be the pair's first completed New York project. The catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition of the artists' work at the Metropolitan Museum, is almost a sociological text in how public art gets made—or, more often, not made. Four interviews ranging from 1979 to 2003, photographs of meetings with city officials and community boards, extensive biographical and critical background, as well as plans, maps, beautiful drawings of the Gates and photographs of their construction expose poignantly how grand artistic ideas are transformed by the long trek toward realization. In one interview, Christo says, "One of the lowest objections was that I am a communist spy and the Fence will be used as intercontinental missile targets." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Choice
"...makes abundantly clear that the artist's...stunning public installation work is not just the result of aesthetic choices. Recommended."

Book Description
Christo and Jeanne-Claude are renowned for their dramatic and innovative public projects. Their installations often feature fabric - sometimes wrapped around existing structures or used to create large-scale temporary environments. Some of their most influential projects include Running Fence in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, Surrounded Islands in Miami, the Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and The Umbrellas simultaneously in Japan and California. Now New York City, where they have lived and worked for forty years, will be the site for a much-anticipated Christo and Jeanne-Claude project. The Gates will consist of saffron-colored fabric panels suspended from the horizontal tops of over 7,500 sixteen-foot-tall vinyl gates, positioned at regular intervals throughout 23 miles of walkways of Central Park. The installation will be on view for sixteen days, beginning February 12, 2005 (weather permitting). This book, published in conjunction with a major exhibition that opens in April 2004 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrates the culmination of the artists' vision for The Gates, a project that began in 1979. It includes an illustrated introduction by Jonathan Fineberg that surveys the career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and assesses their contribution to contemporary art and culture. The heart of the book consists of beautiful reproductions of the various preparatory collages and drawings that Christo has created for The Gates project, many of which have not been previously published, and detailed documentation of the personalities and events that have led up to the project. This volume also features four highly engaging, unpublished interviews conducted by Fineberg with the artists, from the 1970s to a recent interview of July 2003.

From the Publisher
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates, Central Park, New York City" will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 6 to July 25, 2004). Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About the Author
Jonathan Fineberg is Gutgsell Professor of Art History at the University of Illinois, Champaign. His many previous books include Christo: Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami Florida, 1980-83 (1986), Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being (1994), The Innocent Eye: Children's Art and the Modern Artist (1997), and Discovering Child Art: Essays on Childhood, Primitivism, and Modernism (1997).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are renowned for their dramatic and innovative public projects. Their installations often feature fabric -- sometimes wrapped around existing structures or used to create large-scale temporary environments. Some of their most influential projects include Running Fence in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, Surrounded Islands in Miami, The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, The Umbrellas, Japan-USA simultaneously in Japan and California, and the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin. Now New York City, where they have lived and worked for forty years, will be the site for a much-anticipated Christo and Jeanne-Claude project. The Gates will consist of saffron-colored fabric panels suspended from the horizontal tops of around 7,500 sixteen-foot-tall vinyl gates, positioned at regular intervals throughout 23 miles of walkways in Central Park. The installation will be on view for sixteen days, beginning February 12, 2005.

Published in conjunction with a major exhibition that opens in April 2004 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, this beautiful book celebrates the culmination of the artists' vision for The Gates, a project that began in 1979. Richly illustrated with photographs by Wolfgang Volz, On the Way to The Gates features an introduction by Jonathan Fineberg that surveys the career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and assesses their contribution to contemporary art and culture. The heart of the book consists of beautiful reproductions of the various preparatory collages and drawings that Christo has created for The Gates project, many of which have not been previously published, and detailed documentation of the personalities and events that have led up to the project. This volume also includes four engaging, unpublished interviews with the artists, from the 1970s to a recent interview of July 2003.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists responsible for such memorable wrapped pieces as "Surrounded Islands" (bright pink fabric floating around 11 islands in Biscayne Bay in Florida), and "Running Fence" (2.3 million square feet of fabric stretching down to the ocean in Sonoma and Marin counties in California), have been planning a major piece in New York City since they arrived in 1964. Unfortunately, their ideas, which included wrapping the Museum of Modern Art, were continually stymied both by private owners and the city. In near-giddy anticipation, this book from art historian Fineberg (The Innocent Eye) offers 50 b&w and 160 lush color illustrations, meticulously and compellingly contextualized, of the 7,500 saffron-colored vinyl panels they plan to suspend along the walkways of New York's Central Park in February 2005. First conceived in 1979, it will be the pair's first completed New York project. The catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition of the artists' work at the Metropolitan Museum, is almost a sociological text in how public art gets made-or, more often, not made. Four interviews ranging from 1979 to 2003, photographs of meetings with city officials and community boards, extensive biographical and critical background, as well as plans, maps, beautiful drawings of the Gates and photographs of their construction expose poignantly how grand artistic ideas are transformed by the long trek toward realization. In one interview, Christo says, "One of the lowest objections was that I am a communist spy and the Fence will be used as intercontinental missile targets." (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal