Exhibition guide

La Caverne du Pont Neuf, imagined by JR in homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Visit details

  • Dates: From Saturday 06 June 2026 to Sunday 28 June 2026 :
  • Venue: Paris, , Paris
  • Price: free
  • Audience: All audiences
  • Source: Event page

About the exhibition

The Cavern of Pont Neuf, a temporary work of art designed by JR, will be presented from June 6 to 28, 2026. The installation will pay tribute to the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Pont Neuf Wrapped, which celebrated its fortieth anniversary this year. It will offer Parisians and visitors a limited opportunity in time to experience an ephemeral re-imagination of the oldest bridge in Paris. The project will be made possible through a partnership with the Endowment Fund The Amicale des Ponts de Paris.

JR's vision is inspired by the quarries from which the bridge stones come and highlights the origins of the historic architecture of Paris. The Cavern of Pont Neuf will juxtapose the brute and the wild to the refined elegance of Paris, creating a dialogue between the past and the present.

The behind the scenes of this installation are to be discovered in our interview with JR.

A tribute to the Pont Neuf WrappedThe Pont Neuf Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude was first proposed by artists in 1975. It took a decade of technical planning and negotiations with the authorities to finally take life from 22 September to 5 October 1985. During this period, the iconic bridge was wrapped in 41,800m2 of fabric, secured by 13 km of ropes and 12 tons of steel cables, thanks to the help of 12 engineers and 300 skilled workers.

"I wanted to transform it, make an architectural object, an inspirational object for artists, an object of art at all times," explained Christo during the realization of the Pont Neuf Wrapped. "Let him become for the first time a sculpture, but ephemeral." Over the course of these two weeks, three million visitors had discovered the "Em"Pont Nine Wrapped.

40 years later, JR again transformed Bridge NineThe Bridge Nine was completed in 1607. This is the first bridge in Paris not to have been built using wood, but entirely in Lutetian limestone, also called the stone of Paris. The limestone used to build this bridge, as well as many buildings and monuments in Paris, came from the quarries of the Paris basin. It was also the first bridge in the city to have paved sidewalks, thus facilitating pedestrian traffic and urban life in Paris. In addition to its sustainable public use, the bridge continues to be celebrated for its rich history and picturesque views of the Seine.

My vision for this project is based on both the past and the present of this iconic bridge.

JR,

JR and his team, in coordination with the Christo Foundation and Jeanne-Claude and L-Amicale des Ponts de Paris, planned and worked with the support of the City of Paris to the success of La Caverne du Pont Neuf. In-depth technical studies were carried out to obtain the necessary authorizations. During the duration of its presentation, La Caverne du Pont Neuf will be accessible free of charge to the public who can cross it or pass below it, either by mouche boat or by the banks of the Seine. The work of art will be financed by private sponsorship, without recourse to public funds. Further details will be announced in 2026.

For JR, La Caverne du Pont Neuf will be the culmination of an artistic cycle begun in 2020, during which he has constantly questioned the growing disconnection and isolation of citizens, particularly exacerbated by the pandemic and successive confinements. It is in this spirit that JR created several trompe l'oeil, creating breaches on the facades of emblematic buildings, like the works La Ferita in Florence (2021), Punto de Fuga in Rome (2021) and La Nascita in Milan (2024).