The AP reports that artist Jeanne-Claude, wife and partner of Christo, has died:
Jeanne-Claude died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, her family said in an e-mail statement. […] The family statement said Christo was deeply saddened by his wife’s death but was “committed to honor the promise they made to each other many years ago: that the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude would continue.” That included completing their current installation, “Over The River, Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado” and “The Mastaba” a project in the United Arab Emirates.
Richard Lacayo adds these details on his Looking Around blog:
Her full name was Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon. The daughter of a French military officer stationed in Casablanca, she was born there on June 13, 1935. That happens also to be the birthdate of Christo, whom she met in Paris in 1958 when he was commissioned to a paint a portrait of her mother. Their collaborations began soon after.
Bloomberg has this from Laurence Arnold:
“We wish our works to be temporary,” Jeanne-Claude said in October 2008, when she and her husband addressed the National Press Club in Washington. “We have love and tenderness for childhood because we know childhood will not last. We have love and tenderness for our lives because we know it will not last. This quality of love and tenderness, we wish to give it to our work of art as an additional aesthetic quality.”
The couple sometimes struggled to win government approval and public acceptance of their unusual work. It took them 10 years to win permission for “The Pont Neuf Wrapped,” which wrapped golden fabric around an historic bridge over the River Seine in Paris. They first pitched “The Gates” to New York City officials in 1979.
Jeanne-Claude said the couple’s best-received work was “Wrapped Walk Ways,” a 1978 project that wrapped saffron- colored fabric along walkways and jogging paths in Jacob Loose Memorial Park in Kansas City. […]
Though they collaborated on envisioning their work, Jeanne- Claude handled the business end while Christo, who was trained as an artist, drew up their ideas.
Jeanne-Claude said the couple made a conscious decision, after settling in New York City early in their careers, to present Christo as the lead artist in their projects.