Portrait of Judith Lieb

Christo began his career by painting society portraits in Paris in the 1950s, before moving onto his iconic wrapped objects. In the 1960s he executed a series of wrapped portraits including those of Jean-Claude, 1963 (promised gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego), and art world figures such as Horace and Holly Solomon. Judith Lieb was a Philadelphia based art collector who, in the 1960s, was a member of the Arts Council of the local YMHA. The group organized regular exhibitions of artists’ work included one by Christo. The pair met when Lieb assisted the artist in the construction of one his Store Fronts for an exhibition entitled The Museum of Merchandise. After seeing the wrapped portrait of Horace Solomon, Lieb asked the artist to paint one of her. Christo asked her to supply photographs of herself to base the portrait on, which she did—sending him a strip of photo booth pictures of herself which she obtained for 25cents. The resulting portrait has remained in the owner’s private collection for the past 49 years.