“La Caverne du Pont Neuf” in Paris: city, mountain, river

As a tribute to the artist couple, the French artist JR designed the walk-in cave “La Caverne du Pont Neuf”. He created a mountain of fabric in black and white on the city’s oldest bridge, which is characteristic of his work. The 43-year-old street artist and photographer is known for his attention-grabbing, huge black and white images in public spaces, spectacular and very instagrammable is also his Pont Neuf installation: a mountain rammed into the middle of the city and river landscape of Paris.

For his new work, JR was inspired by the quarries from which the building material for this bridge was once extracted. Completed in 1607, the Pont Neuf is made of Lutetic limestone – also known as “Parisian stone” – and was the first bridge over the Seine not to be made of wood.

The installation – 120 meters long, 20 meters wide and up to 18 meters high – is now accessible with a little delay, as the opening was actually planned for the catchy date of June 6, 2026. But a thunderstorm after the first heat wave of the year caused damage to the structures, some of the material was torn and the art installation was endangered. “We spent days and nights rebuilding it,” JR explained on Instagram, even admitting that he and his team “stopped believing in it” at times.

The installation can be seen until June 28th

The work of art, which can be accessed around the clock, was released without much notice and entry is free. The artist does not provide any information about how the campaign is financed, only that no public money was used. There is also no information about the costs. In media reports you can read about a six-figure amount.

Anyone who stands in line is greeted by spherical sounds mixed with a kind of rumbling thunder – a sound installation of the former Daft-Punk-Musician Thomas Bangalter. From the inside, the structure actually looks like a mountain. Even if it’s not narrow, you get a feeling of being in a cave – but also a feeling of hell: Given the current temperatures in Paris are over thirty degrees, which are rising much higher under the plastic sheets, and the crowds of people pushing after you, you have an escape reflex: get through quickly, get back into the light and into the not-so-fresh air!

In general, this work with oomph lacks the lightness that characterized the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. On June 28th the installation will be dismantled and the view of the Pont Neuf will be free again.