In the heart of Paris, the famous "I love you" wall hides a fascinating mystery. Its façade is decorated with an iconic silhouette created by the artist Jean-Marc Paumier (known as Rue Meurt d'Art immortalized there. While many city guides think they recognize Dalida or Ava Gardner in it, it actually shows the legendary Rita Hayworth in her starring role as Gilda from the eponymous black-and-white film by Charles Vidor from 1946.
Next to the seductive silhouette there is a message that is as enigmatic as it is poetic: « aimer c'est du désordre ... alors aimons! » («To love is disorder ... so let us love! »).
But this is where the real mystery begins: to the right of Hayworth, the outline of another female figure, no longer visible, can be seen. The arrangement suggests that the romantic declaration of love originally belonged to this mysterious, now missing figure.
These subtle signs of change raise fascinating questions: Is the distant silhouette actually Ava Gardner, as some experts suspect? And if so, why was her figure erased from the wall, while Rita Hayworth remained or was added?
For years I have been looking for an answer to the disappearance of Ava Gardner from the "Mur des je t'aime" in Paris. I have asked countless friends, but no one could give me an explanation. Even my direct request to the artist remained unanswered. This disappearance seems like magic to me - and the fact that no one knows the reason for it makes it even more mysterious. Who can solve this mystery? Who knows the true story behind this mysterious disappearance?
Now to the wall itself
In picturesque Montmartre lies an extraordinary work of art that magnetically attracts people from all over the world: Le mur des je t'aime - the "I love you wall". What began as a romantic vision of the Parisian singer Frédéric Baron developed into a symbol of the universal language of love.
Inspired by Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days," Baron started his ambitious project with the idea of collecting 80 different versions of "I love you." This collection eventually grew to over 1,000 declarations of love in various languages.
Baron brought in calligrapher Claire Kito to take on the artistic implementation, who gave his collection a special aesthetic with her handwriting. What was originally planned as paper art was transformed into a monumental work of art through collaboration with mural painting specialist Daniel Boulogne.
Since 2000, the Love Wall has adorned the eastern façade of a residential building on the Place des Abbesses in Square Jean Rictus. On an area of 40 square meters (10 x 4 meters), 311 snow-white declarations of love in 280 languages and dialects shine on 612 dark blue, glazed lava tiles. Each tile, in DIN A4 format, is reminiscent of the original sheets of paper from Baron's collection.
Between the calligraphic declarations of love, bright red splashes of paint dance across the wall - they symbolize fragments of broken hearts. In their entirety, these fragments come together to form a perfect heart, symbolizing the power of love that unites all people.
Today, the wall has become a popular meeting place for lovers from all over the world. Couples look for "their" declaration of love in their native language and immortalize the moment with photos. The top row of the wall is deliberately left unfinished - as if it were waiting to record even more variations of the most beautiful words in the world.
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