L’OBSERVATOIRE

JR revealed L’Observatoire, a carriage created for the legendary Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train, in a historic floating display during the first week of Venice Biennale. A true artwork in motion, L’Observatoire was presented on a barge on the canal in a dreamlike moment. From April 17th to 22nd, the public was invited to peer through eye-shaped portholes placed in the carriage windows to discover JR’s creative haven unfold through intricately crafted spaces.  

JR is the first artist to ever design a Venice Simplon-Orient-Express carriage. L’Observatoire is inspired by his childhood passion for trains, the design of his personal art studio in Paris, astronomical observatories, and the cabinets of curiosity of Renaissance Europe. For the reveal, he recreates the iconic 1982 moment when the Étoile du Nord dining car and one of the sleeper carriages was presented on the lagoon during Venice Simplon-Orient-Express’s first trip to Venice.  

L’Observatoire builds on JR's long story with trains. His youth was marked by gazing out the window, watching the landscape change while he took the Métro from the Parisian suburbs into the heart of the city. Early in his career during his teenage years, he realized that trains could make his art travel and replaced Métro maps with his photography. For Women Are Heroes, he pasted eyes on the outside of train cars in Kibera, Kenya. His artworks Mind the Gap and Eye Contact involve hundreds of miniature train wagons moving in tandem to form a larger image.  

With L’Observatoire, JR had the opportunity to work directly with a piece of history to reimagine what a VSOE carriage could be. He dove into the archive of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, exploring how acclaimed Art Deco designers, such as René Prou and René Lalique, conceptualized the original carriage fleet. JR used artisanal century-old techniques to preserve the train’s pre-1945s look and feel while creating spaces filled with hidden details that drive curiosity and instill a sense of imagination. Intricate marquetry spans across the carriage rooms, which include a library and secret tearoom.  

L’Observatoire will join the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train in 2025.