Arbre Bleu – The Blue Tree
The Arbre Bleu (Blue Tree) is a magnificent fresco depicting a majestic blue tree. It adorns the gable of a building located at the corner of Rue Descartes and Rue Clovis, near the Pantheon and the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont Church.
The Arbre Bleu is among the twelve murals commissioned as part of Les Murs de l’An 2000 (The Walls of the Year 2000), an artistic project initiated by the City of Paris to commemorate the entry into the third millennium.
The theme of Pierre Alechinsky‘s work is the importance of preserving nature in an urban environment.
The tree’s vibrant shades of blue contrast sharply with the surrounding grey structures. They attract the attention of passers-by, prompting them to look up, perhaps to glimpse the blue sky above.
Friezes (also of the same blue) surround the blue tree. However, they represent charred and diseased trees, symbolising the harmful effects of urban pollution on nature.
A magnificent poem by Yves Bonnefoy is engraved on the wall to the right side of the fresco, and celebrates the virtues of the humble street tree.
L’Arbre Bleu poem
Passant,
Regarde ce grand arbre
Et à travers lui
Il peut suffire.Car même déchiré, souillé,
L’arbre des rues,
C’est toute la nature,
Tout le ciel,
L’oiseau s’y pose,
Le vent y bouge, le soleil
Y dit le même espoir malgré
La mort.Philosophe,
As-tu chance d’avoir l’arbre
Dans ta rue,
Tes pensées seront moins ardues
Tes yeux plus libres,
Tes mains plus désireuses
De moins de nuit.
Directions: 5th district – Rue Descartes
Metro: Cardinal Lemoine on Line 10 or Luxembourg on RER B
Coordinates: Lat 48.845746 – Long 2.349097
