LONDON.- An original drawing for the project Christo intended as his only permanent, large-scale public artwork comes for sale in London this month. A highlight of the 20/21 Century Art sale at Chiswick Auctions on November 12, the pencil, charcoal and crayon on paper artwork for the Abu Dhabi Mastaba project has a guide of £20,000-30,000.

Christo (1935-2020) who worked for much of his career with his life-partner Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, created the preparatory designs for the Abu Dhabi Mastaba in 1977-78. He envisaged a massive mosaic made from 410,000 coloured barrels to form a structure, echoing Islamic architecture. Unlike Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s widely known ‘Wrapped’ spaces projects, it was intended as a permanent monument.

The final design, including the colours and positioning of the work was decided by Christo and Jeanne-Claude the following year when the pair first visited the United Arab Emirates. A number of similar compositions exist, with some examples held by the artist’s Foundation, and within the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection at National Gallery of Art in Washinton D.C. This example, signed and dated 1978 to both the lower left and again to the reverse, measures 71 x 65cm.

Abu Dhabi Mastaba remained unfulfilled in Christo’s lifetime but, as per his wishes, the project continues under the supervision of his nephew Vladimir Yavachev.
Following the posthumous completion of L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in 2021, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s team is now focused on creating the Mastaba. The formal designs were put in motion in the early 2000s with the help of engineers from multiple renowned institutions. When realised, the work will be the largest contemporary sculpture in the world, reaching an astonishing 150 meters high, 300 meters long at the vertical walls, and 225 meters wide at the 60-degree slanted walls. The proposed location is in the desert of Liwa, approximately 160 kilometres south of the city of Abu Dhabi.

The drawing was last on the market in 1998 when it was acquired from the Fabien Fryns Gallery. Chiswick Auctions’ specialist expects plenty of interest from the army of Christo admirers: “This is an incredibly special work as it’s subject will be the artist’s only permanent, large-scale public artwork, and their final piece after a long and revolutionary career.”