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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > November > 19 > Entry
Artist Jeanne-Claude is dead at 74
With her orange-dyed hair, artist Jeanne-Claude was an ever-present companion to her husband Christo, collaborating on his ambitious and grand site-specific installations.
Now, the New York Times, among other news sources, is reporting that Jeanne-Claude is dead at age 74.
She died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm.
Most recently, the couple grabbed international headlines when they altered New York’s Central Park with more than 7,500 metal gates draped with orange fabric. An estimated 4 million people saw “The Gates.”
In 2006, the couple visited Austin on the occasion of the exhibit ‘Christo and Jeanne- Claude: The Würth Collection’ at the Austin Museum of Art.
In an interview, she admonished me to never refer to her and Christo as the wrapping artists.
“Simply because we are not,” Jeanne- Claude said emphatically. “We have created so many works that have nothing to do with wrapping.”
Photo: AP/Ed Andrieski
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By David Wyatt
November 19, 2009 2:08 PM | Link to this
I had the pleasure of promoting her Austin appearances (at the Paramount, at Art Ball, and at Art City Austin) for AMOA. It was thrilling as I had been to experience The Gates the year before. She was really something else. A big life lesson I learned from meeting them was to never retire. They were as engaged, vital, relevant, progressive, and productive as anyone I’ve ever known - and they were pushing 90 then. Plus they made the impossible, possible. Truly an inspiration.