ARTWrapping the Reichstag: Internationally recognized artist Christo,...

ART

Wrapping the Reichstag: Internationally recognized artist Christo, who has wrapped islands off Miami and a Paris bridge, on Tuesday uncloaked details for his latest plan: to cover Berlin’s Reichstag with a silver blanket next summer. Some politicians say wrapping the 100-year-old landmark is an affront to the Reichstag, Germany’s once and future seat of Parliament. But Christo, who erected 1,760 yellow umbrellas along California’s Tejon Pass in 1991, got the go-ahead from the German parliament last February after a determined 22-year campaign, and plans to start the project on June 17. He will use 160 assistants to wrap the Reichstag with 90,000 square yards of a silver propylene fabric, chosen “because it fits with the building, the heaven and light in Berlin.” Christo estimates it will take about a week to complete the job, and the building will remain covered through July 6. The Bulgarian-born artist has given estimates of $4.5 million to $7 million for the project, which he plans to fund through the sale of his sketches. The historic gray stone building housed parliament from 1894 until 1933 when it was gutted in a fire. Reunited Germany’s federal parliament, which now meets in Bonn, is to move back into the Reichstag by the year 2000.

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Paris Figures Charged: French police have charged two well-known Paris art world figures with selling paintings by Marc Chagall that were stolen by the painter’s housekeeper after his death in 1985. Police said at least 40 gouaches, probably more, were taken from Chagall’s studio in St. Paul de Vence and sold on the international market for about $10 million. Charged in the scheme were Jean-Luc Verstaete, an art consultant; Yves Hemin, manager of the Marcel Bernheim Gallery in Paris, and Georges Guerra, their suspected accomplice. The three allegedly falsified ownership documents and found respected galleries and auction houses to authenticate and sell the works. The housekeeper, Irene Menskoi, was murdered in 1990, but her death was not related to the scheme, police said. Chagall’s heirs apparently were unaware the works were missing.

EVENTS

Hollywood Auction: Harrison Ford’s jacket and hat from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” costumes worn by TV superheroes Wonder Woman and Batman and Robin, and furniture from “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” are among the items to be auctioned off Saturday and Sunday in a two-day sale of entertainment memorabilia at Hollywood’s Butterfield & Butterfield. Other items include a caustic letter written by John Lennon to fellow Beatle Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney, seven hours of taped conversations with reclusive actress Greta Garbo, and animation cels from “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia” and “Alice in Wonderland.” The auction house will be open for public preview of the items starting on Thursday.

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Music for Toys: The Hard Rock Cafe restaurants in the Beverly Center and Newport Beach’s Fashion Island Mall will host benefit acoustic pop concerts Thursday and Friday, respectively, as part of a toy drive for the Toys for Tots foundation. Scheduled performers for the concert, dubbed “FM 101.9 Unwrapped” and co-sponsored by radio station KSCA-FM, are Dada, Wild Colonials, Dillon O’Brian and Lowen & Navarro. Both shows start at 7 p.m., with one new unwrapped toy required for each admission. The events aim to collect more than 1,000 toys for disadvantaged children.

TELEVISION

A Farewell Quack: Tom Snyder, in the final week of hosting his talk show on cable’s CNBC before moving to CBS in January, took it in stride Monday night when he suddenly lost the feed for his cross-country interview with CBS anchorman Dan Rather. He apologized for the technical snafu, then fielded calls himself for the final 15 minutes. “I’d say heads will roll,” Snyder quipped, “but the duck couldn’t be any lamer.”

QUICK TAKES

German painter Gerhard Richter, 62, is the recipient of the 1994-95 Wolf Prize for the arts. The annual $100,000 prize was established in 1975 by Ricardo Wolf, a German-born diplomat and philanthropist who emigrated to Cuba and served as Cuban ambassador to Israel. . . . Members of the original New York cast of Larry Kramer’s landmark AIDS drama, “The Normal Heart,” will reunite at West Hollywood’s LunaPark on Tuesday and next Wednesday for a two-night staged reading engagement celebrating the play’s 10th anniversary. Proceeds benefit the AIDS group Hearts & Voices Los Angeles. . . . Bill Leonard, the former CBS News president who died Oct. 23, will be remembered Thursday at a memorial service at New York’s Walter Reade Theater. Scheduled speakers include CBS President Howard Stringer, “60 Minutes” boss Don Hewitt and newsmen Dan Rather and Charles Kuralt.