“Seeing the Running Fence was a transformative experience. It was a fence that didn’t divide people but instead brought them together.”

—Elizabeth Broun

One of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s most monumental and ambitious projects, Running Fence (Project for Sonoma and Marin Counties, State of California) comprised 200,000 square metres of heavy woven nylon fabric, 5.5 metres high and 39.4 kilometres long. The fence ran across the Californian hills and into the Pacific Ocean, stretching so far that it was impossible to see the whole fence at once, even from the air. Although the fence itself was only installed for two weeks, the entire project took four years to complete, beginning in 1972 and ending with the work’s dismantling in 1976.

A preparatory sketch from 1973, Running Fence (Project for Sonoma and Marin Counties, State of California) was executed whilst Christo and Jeanne-Claude scouted sites for the project, commissioning engineering drawings, photographs of the landscapes and topographical maps, one of which can be seen in the present work. Preparatory works provide a record of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s artistic and technical process, evincing their deep engagement with environment and community, and showcase aesthetically rich views of the transient projects. In this work, the opaque white fence has a ghostly, almost hauntingly beautiful presence, wending through the vast landscape. The blank emptiness of the drawn fence stands out against its hatched background, highlighting its stark, artificial presence. As with all their projects, the entire $3.2 million cost was paid by Christo and Jeanne-Claude without sponsorship; drawings such as this one, as well as scale models, lithographs and collages, were sold to cover the expenses.

Despite now being seen as an unequivocal triumph and a fond memory in the Sonoma and Marin Counties through which the fence once ran, Running Fence faced continuous legal obstacles. The fence itself intersected fourteen roads and US Highway 101, passing through the private property of fifty-nine ranchers. Throughout the project, Christo and Jeanne-Claude attended eighteen hearings, as well as three sessions of the Superior Court of California, to obtain building permits. Additionally, they had to produce a 450-page Environmental Impact Statement. When asked what made this project stand out, Jeanne-Claude said, ‘It was the first time we were sued’.ⁱ Towards the end of the project’s completion, when it appeared like the courts might issue a restraining order to prevent the work from reaching the ocean, Christo and Jeanne-Claude went into hiding, preventing the injunction from being served; eventually it was concluded that, as the project would only remain up for two weeks, the restraining order would be pointless.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude repeatedly visited ranchers at their homes to explain Running Fence, building a personal connection with the project’s surrounding community. In the end, the work was assembled as a collaborative effort, enlisting the help of these local residents. Christo and Jeanne-Claude considered this entire process part of the artwork, from the legal battles to the environmental impact studies, making the work a unique merging of artistic practice and democratic process. Running Fence went up on 10 September 1976, attracting an estimated two million visitors. All aspects of the work were designed for complete removal and, fourteen days later, there was no trace of the four years of work left on the Californian landscape. The work is survived by its lasting impact on the local communities united by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as well as by vital preparatory drawings such as Running Fence (Project for Sonoma and Marin Counties, State of California). More than just a plan or study, it manifests the incredibly challenging work undertaken by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as well as the resounding success and beauty of the final project.

i Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, quoted in Rudy Chiappini, Christo and Jeanne, Lugano, 2006, p. 130