His oldest preserved street art graffito, a 1991 replica of Caravaggio's Madonna di Loreta, which he dedicated to his future wife Sybille, was rediscovered behind posters on a house wall in Leipzig, Germany, in 2012.įrench authorities identified Blek in 1991 when he was arrested while stencilling a replica of Caravaggio's Madonna and Child, with the connection to Blek and his artwork being made by police. He is credited with inventing the life-sized stencil, and recognised as the first to transform stencil from basic lettering into pictoral art. He also recognised the influence of Canadian artist Richard Hambleton, who painted large-scale human figures in the 1980s. Initially influenced by the early graffiti-art of New York City after a visit in 1971, he chose a style which he felt better suited Paris, due to the differing architecture of the two cities. His name originates from the comic book Blek le Roc, using 'rat' as an anagram for 'art'. He described the rat as 'the only free animal in the city', and one which 'spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art'. Prou began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the walls of Paris streets. Xavier Prou was born in Boulogne-Billancourt in the western suburbs of Paris.

Blek le Rat (born Xavier Prou, 1952) was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the 'Father of stencil graffiti'.

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