The Arc de Triomphe in Paris wrapped in fabric according to the 1961 vision of Christo and Jeanne-Claude

PARIS (AP) – The city of Paris unveils a monumental work of art built around a real monument: the Arc de Triomphe entirely wrapped in silver and blue fabric.

The installation by the late artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who designed the project in 1961, will open on Saturday. The visits will take place for almost three weeks. On weekends, the busy Arc de Triomphe roundabout will be entirely pedestrianized.

Visitors to the famous Napoleonic Arch, which dominates the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, will not only be able to see the glittering fabric, but also touch it – as the artists intended.

Those who climb the 50 meters (164 feet) to the top will walk on it when they reach the rooftop terrace.

During a press conference on the project entitled “Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped”, the French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot described it as “a great gift offered to Parisians, the French and beyond, to all lovers of art “.

Bachelot added that it was “a posthumous testimony of artistic genius”.

Bulgarian Christo Vladimirov Javacheff met Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon in Paris in 1958 and they later became lovers. The idea for the artwork originated in the early 1960s, when they lived in Paris. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009, and Christo in May of last year. The monument was supposed to be packed last fall, but the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed it.

Christo “wanted to complete this project. He made us promise that we would, ”the couple’s nephew, Vladimir Yavachev, told The Associated Press.

The 14 million euros ($ 16.4 million) project is funded by the sale of preparatory studies, drawings, models and other parts by Christo, Yavachev said.

On Thursday, passers-by looked up in admiration. “It reminds me of a big gray elephant posed in Paris on the Champs-Elysée,” says Thomas Thevenoud, 47, who works nearby.

“We really rediscover the beauty of the form,” confides the Parisian of 39 years Agnieszka Wojel. “I couldn’t stop taking pictures because it’s amazing … We are very lucky.”

The artists were known for their elaborate temporary creations that involved covering familiar public places with fabric, including the Reichstag in Berlin and the Pont Neuf in Paris, and creating giant site-specific installations, such as a series of 7 503 gates in Central Park in New York and the 24.5 mile Running Fence in California.

Yavachev said he plans to complete another of their unfinished projects: a 150-meter-high (492 feet) pyramid-shaped mastaba in Abu Dhabi.

“We have the plans, we just have to do it,” he said.

Masha Macpherson and Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed