04.06.2025
Neue Nationalgalerie
Amid the major anniversary marking 30 years of the Wrapped Reichstag, the Neue Nationalgalerie will present another iconic work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude starting 11 June 2025, as part of its collection exhibition Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society. Collection of the Nationalgalerie 1945 – 2000: the Wrapped 1961 Volkswagen Beetle Saloon from 1963/2014.
The artists Christo (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935–2009) became renowned for their wrapping and packaging of objects and buildings, extending to parks and entire landscapes. For the artist duo, it was never about the act of wrapping, but rather a means to shift perception. Their art of transformation, which consciously took place outside traditional gallery or museum spaces from the early 1960s onward, continues to offer new experiences of everyday environments and natural settings. With Wrapped 1961 Volkswagen Beetle Saloon, the Neue Nationalgalerie is now able to present the important artistic approach of Christo and Jeanne-Claude to its audience through a highly symbolic work.
The work will be on long-term loan as part of the current collection exhibition Extreme Tension, which already includes an early work by Christo with Store Front Project from 1964. While in his relief-like wall piece Store Front Project, Christo recreates a shop window, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, with the wrapped Beetle, so to speak, take it to the streets.