Artist Christo unveils his first UK outdoor work "The Mastaba," a 20m high installation on Serpentine Lake made of over 7,000 barrels. /VCG
The artist known as Christo, who made his name transforming landmarks such as Germany's Reichstag by covering them with reams of cloth in June 1995, died on Sunday aged 84, his official Facebook page announced.
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff died of natural causes at his home in New York City, the statement said.
The Bulgarian-born artist worked in collaboration with his wife of 51 years Jeanne-Claude until her death in 2009.
Their large-scale productions would take years of preparation and were costly to erect; but they were mostly ephemeral, lasting for just weeks or months.
Gates creators Christo and Jeanne-Claude inspect their art installation as workers continue installing the poles for The Gates project in Central Park, New York City, U.S., February 9, 2005. /VCG
"Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realizing it," said a statement from his office.
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork brought people together in shared experiences across the globe, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories."
In accordance with Christo's wishes, the statement announcing his death also indicated the Paris project – the long-awaited wrapping of one of the world's most famous war memorials, the Arc de Triomphe – would go ahead.
The artwork in progress named "L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped" is scheduled to be shown from September 18 to October 3 next year.
'Beauty, science and art will always triumph'
Thousands of visitors watch the sunset at the German Reichstag wrapped with silver polypropylene fabric, an art work prepared by Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, in Berlin, Germany, June 25, 1995. /VCG
Born on June 13, 1935, in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, Christo left his home country in 1957, living in several countries before arriving in Paris, where he met his future wife.
Next year's work in Paris will be accompanied by an exhibition at the city's Pompidou Center about their time in the city. That show is due to start in July this year, running through until the end of October 2021.
As well as the German Reichstag, another of their major projects was wrapping the Pont Neuf, Paris's oldest bridge, in 1985.
After his wife's death, Christo continued to dedicate himself to completing their concepts. In 2016, he realized their work "The Floating Piers" on Italy's Lake Iseo, a project they imagined in 1970.
The installation on the Serpentine Lake in London is made up of 7,506 horizontally stacked barrels and is 20m high, 30m wide and 40m long. /VCG
Like many of their works, it was a popular success with some 270,000 people turning up to walk on water during the first five days.
In 2018, Christo unveiled "The London Mastaba," a floating installation on the Serpentine Lake in London made of more than 7,000 oil barrels. It was the artist's first major public, outdoor work in the United Kingdom.
The artists insisted that their ambitious projects were about "joy and beauty," as Jeanne-Claude once said in 2002.
Sunday's statement from Christo's office concluded with a quote from a 1958 letter, in which Christo wrote: "Beauty, science and art will always triumph."
"We hold those words closely today," it added.
(With input from AFP)