Christo Wrapped Toy Horse, 1963

a toy horse wrapped like a mummy in muslin and twine rides on an exposed, rickety orange and blue roller skate base. it sits on a pedestal in a tastefully lit booth, with gilt framed paintings in the background, at the winter show at the park avenue armory, the artwork by christo is shown by dealer jonathan boos and photographed here by patrick parrish for mondoblogo
Christo, Wrapped Toy Horse, 1963, at Jonathn Boos’ booth at The Winter Show, as photographed for mondoblogo

The way Jeanne-Claude’s NYT obituary tells it, her Bulgarian refugee husband Christo was already wrapping objects when they began their collaboration in 1962: “To avoid confusing dealers and the public, and to establish an artistic brand, they used only Christo’s name. In 1994 they retroactively applied the joint name “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” to all outdoor works and large-scale temporary indoor installations. Other works were credited to Christo alone.”

So this fascinating-looking Wrapped Toy Horse from 1963, the year before the duo moved from Paris to NYC, is Christo’s, and Jeanne-Claude is fine with that.

It is one of a whole slew of artworks, antiques, and design objects the eagle-eyed Patrick Parrish of Mondoblogo spotted on his turn through The Winter Show at the Armory. It was brought by private dealer Jonathan Boos who, as Parrish reveals, also had an incredible Ben Shahn painting.

I went to The Winter Show so you don’t have to [mondoblogo]