The Umbrellas (yellow) - Christo - color offset - Japan/USA 1991

"The Umbrellas, Japan - USA" (original English title) was a work of art by the couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude, which was realized simultaneously in 1991 in the Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan and in Kern County in California. The project consisted of several thousand blue and yellow umbrellas installed in the open air. The total cost of the implementation was 26 million dollars.

Christo was born in the small town of Gabrovo, Bulgaria.

His parents had social connections with intellectuals and artists around Gabrovo, and thus Christo grew up with progressive ideas and culture through them.

Christo began creating art early on and was encouraged by professors from the Academy of Fine Arts.

For 35 years he collaborated with artist Jeanne-Claude. Together, the duo created monumentally-scaled sculptures and installations which often utilized the technique of draping and/or wrapping large portions of landscapes, industrial objects, and buildings with a special kind offabric.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude made works that stand out as some of the most grandiose, ambitious, site-specific art works ever.