The Final Banksy in Paris
This May, after months of silence, Banksy resurfaced. Not in Paris, but in its rival city, Marseille. There, a bleak lighthouse cast a white beam, etched with the words: ‘I want to be what you saw in me.’
Nine Parisian Banksys
The French capital hasn’t seen fresh Banksy since 2018, when nine works appeared overnight. Eight have since vanished. Among the casualties:
- Posh rats gazing at the Eiffel Tower
- A rat-thief with a box cutter by the Pompidou
- A man offering his amputated dog a taste of its own bone
- Minnie Mouse rat at the Sorbonne
- A mourning girl for the Bataclan victims
- A refugee child at Porte de La Chapelle
- Two Champagne rats, one in Montmartre, one in the Marais – the latter scrubbed off the wall of Chez Marianne just recently
The Last One Standing
Only one survivor remains: the Red Horseman at 41 Avenue de Flandre, in the 19th arrondissement. A riff on Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of Napoleon, the figure’s scarlet headscarf doubles as a pointed jab at France’s ban on full-face veils. It’s still visible but has partially been covered with other graffiti.
Soon, this Banksy might be history too. So go while you still can. And while you’re at it, let us craft the rest of your day: a hidden atelier visit, a boutique wine bar known only to locals, dinner behind an unmarked door. We’ll map you a city guide that feels like it was passed under the table, not pulled from a guidebook.
Get your bespoke Paris itinerary
