MUNSTER.- The Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster presents Christo and Jeanne- Claude: un|realized, the first exhibition in Germany to focus on the unrealized projects of the artists, who achieved fame primarily through their spectacular interventions in urban and rural spaces.

“The Picasso Museum took on the bold challenge of showcasing Christo and Jeanne-Claude from their lesser-known side. The audience should anticipate an exhibition that defies expectations and surprises on many levels,” says curator Matthias Koddenberg. The Münster-based art historian was a close friend of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, belonging to their “working family” for over 20 years. The exhibition, which he conceived specifically for Münster, presents 25 unrealized projects and includes over 100 works spanning 60 years.

Unrealized projects play a particularly important role in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s editioned work. The exhibition takes this into account by primarily showing the couple’s lithographs and elaborately crafted collage editions. The extensive collection, drawn from the holdings of the Christo and Jeanne- Claude Foundation in New York and supplemented by additional loans from private and public collections, offers a comprehensive look at the artists’ work, who often battled for decades against technical, legal, and administrative challenges to realize their projects.

“In Germany, Christo and Jeanne-Claude are best known for wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin. However, they proposed numerous other projects in cities across Germany such as Cologne, Munich, and Kassel that remained unrealized and are ready to be rediscovered in Münster,” says Vladimir Yavachev, Christo’s nephew and director of projects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

A presentation of large-format photographs, early multiples, and wrapped objects is featured at the start of the exhibition, shedding light on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s artistic beginnings in Paris during the 1950s and 1960s, up to their move to New York in 1964. For the first time ever, nearly all of their early multiples are on display, some in varying versions, to highlight the serial uniqueness of these editions.

That success sometimes includes failure is impressively illustrated throughout the exhibition. Christo and Jeanne-Claude addressed political, economic, and social issues in their public artworks, often provoking intense rejection. A selection of original drawings, collages, and film footage sheds light on the 25-year battle for their Over the River project, which was initially approved and ultimately abandoned by Christo after numerous legal disputes.

“When Christo and Jeanne-Claude visited the Picasso Museum in 2006 to give a lecture on their Over the River project,” recalls museum director Markus Müller, “it sparked controversial discussions among the audience. Their work thus fulfilled the most fundamental purpose of art—it made people think. I hope our exhibition will inspire visitors in the same way.”

The works presented in Münster offer an in-depth look at the artists’ multifaceted body of work, demonstrating that Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s aesthetic vision and collective approach unfolded not only in the projects’ realization, but also in their conception and process.

“For Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the process preceding each project was an integral part of their art,” adds curator Matthias Koddenberg. “As a political refugee, freedom was Christo’s greatest asset. Although their work was sometimes provocative, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were always committed to bringing people from different backgrounds together through shared experiences and participatory processes. Their art is more relevant today than ever before.”