MOSCOW -- To be popular with art historians, you have to be a dead Italian male. Everyone else is suspect to tenured professors and critics, particularly if the work is going to last for just 16 days and is made of nylon and steel. Such was the case with a revolutionary project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, "The Gates" -- 7,500 citrus-hue arches unfurled in New York City's Central Park.

The crowds were festive but awed -- a kind of a sedated Mardi Gras. No toddler climbing the tempting structures, almost no graffiti, no loud voices, no fuss. People couldn't agree on the exact color of Christo's work; some called it saffron, some orange, some red, some yellow.

This was a rare occasion of personal intimacy with a work of art, when people, not guided by any scholarly authority, had a chance to form their own judgment. Visitors also used different words to describe the spirit of "The Gates," like uplifting, meditative, cheerful, philosophical and even religious.