COVER N. 739 - FRANCE

Postmark: JR - La Caverne du Pont-Neuf JR Paris - Premier Jour La Poste 11.06.2026

Posted on the 11th June;  Received on the 25th June 2026

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Another super nice cover, sent by Eric from Paris Philex 2026. Merci encore, Eric!

 

Le Pont-Neuf (the New Bridge) is the oldest of all the 37 crossings over the Seine in Paris in existence today.

The construction of the bridge, which has a length of 232 metres was initiated in 1578, with the last stone being laid in 1607.

 In 1985, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artist couple who astonished the world by elevating wrapping to a new form of art, devoted their attention and creativity to this icon of the city of lights, having fully draped the bridge and its lamps in fabric. The response from the public was nothing short of sensational with an estimated 3 million people having visited the installation (I wonder how many more it would attract today, now that journeying across the world has become a much more feasible proposition….)

 40 five years past this event, French street artist JR, famous for his use of large black and white photographs that  he merges with the physical reality to create outstanding art pieces (just check his “Ballerina in Containers, Holding Tight” at Le Havre port in 2021), paid homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s legacy by “wrapping” again the Pont-Neuf.

 This time, the old bridge was enveloped in fabric printed photographs so as to evoke the stone quarries from where the actual stones used for the construction of the bridge came from, thus constructing a virtual “Cavern” which the visitors can walk trough immersed in a special soundscape created by Thomas Bangalter, an also specific scent, devised by Sarah Bouasse intended to heighten the disorienting, raw sensory experience of being in a cave and augmented reality propositions.

Recognising the relevance of the intervention, La Poste asked JR to create a stamp highlighting it.

The result is, as expected, a stamp featuring a black and white photograph of a segment of the bridge, that really highlights the transformational virtue of the intervention over the old stone infrastructure.

Further to the photograph, the 3,10 € stamp, dated of 11JUN2026, carries the artist’s JR logo, and the legend “La Caverne du Pont-Neuf”, elements that are also present in the First Day Postmark, applied at Paris.