Christian Marclay

American Swiss artist (born 1955)
Person human Q923306
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Christian Marclay

Summary

Christian Marclay is a human[1]. He was born in San Rafael[2]. He was born on January 11, 1955[3]. He worked as a composer[4], visual artist[5], photographer[6], film director[7], and musician[8]. He ranks in the top 0.72% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (163 views/month, #7,248 of 1,000,298).[9]

Key Facts

  • Christian Marclay's place of birth was San Rafael[2].
  • Christian Marclay was born on January 11, 1955[3].
  • Christian Marclay held citizenship in United States[10].
  • Christian Marclay held citizenship in Switzerland[11].
  • Christian Marclay is identified as part of the Swiss ethnic group[12].
  • Christian Marclay is identified as part of the White Americans ethnic group[13].
  • Christian Marclay's professions included composer[4].
  • Christian Marclay's professions included visual artist[5].
  • Christian Marclay worked as a photographer[6].
  • Christian Marclay's professions included film director[7].
  • Christian Marclay's professions included musician[8].
  • Christian Marclay worked as a video artist[14].
  • Christian Marclay's field of work was visual arts[15].
  • Christian Marclay's field of work was performance art[16].
  • Christian Marclay was employed by European Graduate School[17].
  • Christian Marclay was educated at Massachusetts College of Art and Design[18].
  • Christian Marclay received the Prix Méret-Oppenheim[19].
  • Christian Marclay is recorded as male[20].
  • Christian Marclay's instance of is recorded as human[21].
  • Christian Marclay is associated with the contemporary art movement[22].
  • Christian Marclay's genre is figurative art[23].
  • Christian Marclay's record label is recorded as Cuneiform Records[24].
  • Christian Marclay's Commons category is recorded as Christian Marclay[25].
  • Christian Marclay's family name is recorded as Marclay[26].
  • Christian Marclay's given name is recorded as Christian[27].

Product Details

The following facts are restated verbatim from public-domain and CC0 open-data sources — every line is independently verifiable against the named source's catalog.

MusicBrainz — CC0 open music encyclopedia

  • Type: Person[28]

  • Country: US[29]

  • Began / founded: 1955-01-11[30]

  • Genre(s): experimental, free improvisation, sound art, sound collage[31]

  • Community tags: composer, experimental, free improvisation, sound art, sound collage[32]

  • MusicBrainz ID: b9cc366b-fde1-4484-a49f-6d5b51d5ff3a[33]

Body

Origins and Family

Born in San Rafael[2], Christian Marclay… he was born on January 11, 1955[3]. Ethnic identities include Swiss[12], a human population[34] and White Americans[13], an ethnic group[35].

Education

Christian Marclay's education included a stint at Massachusetts College of Art and Design[18].

Career and Affiliations

Recorded occupations include composer[4], visual artist[5], photographer[6], film director[7], musician[8], and video artist[14]. Fields of work include visual arts[15], a type of arts[36] and performance art[16], an art genre[37]. Among Christian Marclay's employers was European Graduate School[17].

Recognition

Christian Marclay received the Prix Méret-Oppenheim[19].

Why It Matters

Christian Marclay ranks in the top 0.72% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (163 views/month, #7,248 of 1,000,298).[9] He has Wikipedia articles in 10 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[38] He is known by 4 alternative names across languages and contexts.[39]

FAQs

Where was Christian Marclay born?

Christian Marclay's place of birth was San Rafael[2].

What did Christian Marclay do for work?

Christian Marclay worked as composer[4], visual artist[5], photographer[6], film director[7], and musician[8].

Where did Christian Marclay go to school?

Christian Marclay was educated at Massachusetts College of Art and Design[18].

What awards did Christian Marclay receive?

Honors received include Prix Méret-Oppenheim[19].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  2. [20] . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  3. [10] . Museum of Modern Art online collection. Retrieved . workwithdata.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  4. [11] . SIKART. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  5. [21] . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  6. [18] . wikidata.org.
  7. [15] . wikidata.org.
  8. [16] . SIKART. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  9. [4] . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  10. [5] . SIKART. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [6] . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  12. [7] . wikidata.org.
  13. [8] . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  14. [14] . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] . wikidata.org.
  16. [22] . whitecube.com. whitecube.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  17. [23] . paulacoopergallery.com. paulacoopergallery.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  18. [19] . wikidata.org.
  19. [12] . RKDartists. wikidata.org.
  20. [13] . RKDartists. wikidata.org.
  21. [24] . wikidata.org.
  22. [25] . wikidata.org.
  23. [3] . RKDartists. Retrieved . radioswissclassic.ch. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  24. [26] . Union List of Artist Names. wikidata.org.
  25. [27] . Union List of Artist Names. wikidata.org.

Product details (FDA / USDA / NHTSA public-domain catalog data)

  1. [28] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  2. [29] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  3. [30] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  4. [31] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  5. [32] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  6. [33] . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [36] . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [37] . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [34] . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [35] . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Class ancestry

  1. [1] . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [9] . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [38] . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [39] . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Christian Marclay. Retrieved April 10, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/christian-marclay
MLA “Christian Marclay.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 10 Apr. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/christian-marclay.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_christian-marclay_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Christian Marclay}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/christian-marclay}, note = {Accessed: 2026-04-10}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Christian Marclay — https://4ort.xyz/entity/christian-marclay (retrieved 2026-04-10)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 26d ago · Magnus Manske · 2026-05-07 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Educated at Massachusetts College of Art and Design
    Represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, White Cube
    Smithsonian american art museum person/institution id 20508
    Place of birth San Rafael
    + 36 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ [[Property:P9984]]: 981058618216506706, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/257405|batch #257405]]"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.