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Huge butterfly murals bring buildings to life
In Art

Huge Butterfly Murals Bring Buildings to Life

French street artist Youri Cansell—better known as Mantra—paints giant, hyper-realistic butterflies on buildings.

These murals look like enormous specimen boxes you’d find in a natural history museum.

Complete with painted shadows and detailed wings, it’s trompe l’oeil at its quietest, turning blank walls into windows onto nature.

We love the simple purity of the designs, and the bit of shadow that make the butterflies truly pop.

See more of Mantra’s work on his website and Instagram.

Images © Mantra. Via Inspiration Grid.

A mural artist painting a large butterfly mural on a wall, standing on a ladder.
A large mural of a colorful butterfly on the side of a brick building, surrounded by green grass and other smaller butterflies.
A vibrant mural of a butterfly painted on a wall, surrounded by green leaves and a window in the corner.
A mural featuring a large yellow butterfly and several smaller butterflies in various colors on a building wall, with a city street and buildings in the background.
A mural of a large yellow butterfly surrounded by smaller colorful butterflies on a building wall at night. The city street below is illuminated with streetlights and parked cars.
A large, vibrant mural of a butterfly on the side of a building in an urban setting, with pedestrians and greenery in the background.
Building facade adorned with large, colorful murals of butterflies and other insects.
A large mural featuring various species of butterflies, displayed in a grid format on a building exterior. The butterflies are intricately detailed and colorful, with a range of shapes and patterns.
A large mural on a building featuring various colorful butterfly illustrations, showcasing their intricate patterns and designs against a cloudy sky.
A building exterior featuring large, artistic murals of various species of butterflies, set against a backdrop of a green hillside and a cloudy sky.
An artist on a lift painting a large mural of butterflies and flowers on a brick wall.
A large mural of colorful butterflies on a building, surrounded by trees and urban scenery.
Author

Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

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3 Comments

  1. JEANNIE TERRY

    These butterfly paintings are just lovely. They do indeed “pop”!

  2. Allison

    Totally WOW!!
    I wish he would come to America and paint some of our buildings.

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