"All our projects are…totally useless," spectacular conceptual artist Christo, who passed away on May 31, at age 84, often said. "The world can live without them... They cannot be bought, nobody can charge tickets…They are an absolute expression of artistic freedom." How many artists can claim that absolute artistic freedom?

Christo-s works are monumental, stunning, thought-provoking and even puzzling. Christo—born Christo Vladimirov Javacheff in Bulgaria—has wrapped varied objects throughout his career, including buildings for Wrapped Reichstag, he wrapped up the German Parliament in silvery fabric in 1995, a bridge the Pont Neuf in Paris, a million sq ft of coastline Sydney, even islands he dressed islands near Miami in pink -skirts- and created -The Gates,- with 7,500 orange -curtain-gates- along New York-s Central Park-s walkways. The Times described The Gates, created in 2005, as "the first great public art event of the 21st century," though many other critics were less kind to Christo-s art. And the art of Christo and his producer-wife Jeanne-Claude was popular worldwide. Wrapped Reichstag got five million visitors in two weeks, as did The Gates, while Floating Piers on Lake Iseo, Italy, drew 1.3 million visitors. Going by the number of visitors, Christo and Jeanne-Claude are among the most popular artists of the 20th/21st century so far. Wrap stars, the BBC called them.