About
In 2025, Paris celebrated the 40th anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s iconic The Pont Neuf Wrapped — two artists who have deeply inspired JR throughout his work. With La Caverne du Pont Neuf, JR followed in that tradition by offering his own vision, at the invitation of the Christo et Jeanne-Claude Fondation. It is a vibrant tribute to those who transformed public space into a space of dreams 40 years ago.
La Caverne du Pont Neuf existed thanks to L’Amicale des Ponts de Paris — a private endowment fund that commissioned the work from JR and secured its funding through private partners, with no public money.
Photos & Press Releases“My vision for this project is inspired by both the past and the present of this iconic bridge. I admire the artistic legacy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and share their belief that art’s mission is to make us think, to make us question what is familiar to us. The debate that a project in public space sparks has equal value to its realization.”
– JR
La Caverne du Pont Neuf is no coincidence — nor is it a first. After installations in Florence, Rome, Milan, and the project Retour à la Caverne in 2023 in Paris, this installation by JR concludes a reflection on our need to reconnect with the sensory world. The Pont Neuf was built from Lutetian limestone: stone quarried from the underground basins of the Paris region, the same stone that gave rise to the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and the city’s grand facades. By imagining a cavern on this bridge, JR brings Paris back to its own raw material, to the underground origins of all its splendor.
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The Sketches of La Caverne
Discover the sketches for La Caverne at Galerie Perrotin (76 rue de Turenne, 3rd arrondissement), until July 25. For his fifth exhibition at the gallery in Paris, JR presents new works that echo La Caverne du Pont Neuf and reflect the full technical richness of his practice.
Gallery
Around La Caverne
Echoes
Stamps
Passport
Lithographs
Métro
Books
About JR
JR takes over public spaces most people walk past without a second glance — walls, rooftops, facades. For 20 years, he has traveled the world with a camera and glue: pasting women’s eyes across the carriages of a Kenyan train, a child peeking over the US-Mexico border, a trompe-l’œil at the Louvre with 400 volunteers. His project Inside Out has already enabled more than 600,000 people to carry a message through their portrait. Oscar-nominated, exhibited across six continents, he turns public space into a place of encounter and dialogue. La Caverne du Pont Neuf is his most ambitious project to date.
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