Artist: Christo & Jean-Claude
Title: "The Gates (Project for Central Park, New York City)
Medium: Oilstick, crayon, graphite, collage with fabric and board, and map on board in artist's Plexiglas box frame, in two parts
Year: 1982
Signed: Christo 1982 (upper left)
Titled: The Gates (Project for Central Park, New York City) (lower edge of upper panel)
Dimensions: 11 1/4 x 28 3/8" (upper panel); 22 3/8 x 28 2/8" (lower panel); measurements include frame
Provenance: Acquired from the Artist by the present owner

The Gates was a site-specific, public work of art conceived by Christo and his wife and collaborator of many decades, Jeanne-Claude, and installed on 23 miles of pathways in New York's Central Park from February 12-27, 2005. The project was comprised of 7,503 "gates"– post and lintel constructions – each festooned with a panel of saffron-colored nylon fabric. This was a feat of bureaucratic, technical, and civic planning, that demanded tremendous resources. As with all of their large-scale works, Christo and Jeanne-Claude raised money to fund The Gates through sales of preparatory studies and sketches, including The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City. The proceeds from the sales of these works provided the resources that enabled the artists to finance the actual installations, allowing them to avoid all public or private funding. At the same time, such drawings and collages constitute finished works in their own right, revealing consummate draftsmanship and uncanny imagination.

This drawing is one of earliest and most developed of a number of preparatory studies that Christo created for The Gates. In spite of the fact that the project had been rejected by the City in 1981, Christo and Jean-Claude persisted. Dated 1982, this drawing is one of earliest and most developed of a number of preparatory studies that Christo created for The Gates. In this mixed media drawing, the bas relief created by the collaged saffron colored fabric and applied strips of board used to create the infrastructure adds depth and vitality to the monumental installation that the artists envisioned.

First conceived by Christo and his wife, Jean-Claude, in 1979, The Gates Project was rejected in 1981, but ultimately granted permission by the City and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for installation in February 2005. On February 12, 2005, Christo and Jeanne-Claude debuted The Gates, a spectacle the likes of which New York had never seen. Over 23 miles of walking paths through Central Park, the artists erected 7,503 gates, each one supporting a fabric flag suspended like a curtain. The gates were each 16 feet tall, giving the project the feeling of major infrastructure. The installation drew millions of visitors to the city and generated an estimated $254 million for the local economy. For sixteen days in 2005 The Gates tempted millions of people to visit Central Park. Four million visitors came to see the artwork in its brief run, from February 12 to 28. These saffron gates encouraged visitors to explore the park, take photos, and take new paths through the park.

As written in Bloomberg News: "The Gates was a coup for New York. The artists' sweeping gesture came at a time when the city was still reeling from the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Gates was less an act of healing than an expression of resolve. New Yorkers came together for a public demonstration whose meaning was wide open (and the topic of every conversation). In an era before Instagram or smartphones, it was a live civic spectacle, proof that a vision could serve as a beacon to the public commons. On brisk winter days, the gates fluttered like flags. People rallied around them. Witnessing the gates as a visitor felt peaceful – even underwhelming. It was supposed to be."