The modern history of French street art starts in the 1970's, with the work of artists like Ernest Pignon-Ernest(three bottom pictures), Gerald Zlotykamien(first picture) and Jean le Gac(second picture).
Ernest Pignon-Ernest's wonderful murals in places like Soweto and Naples and later Paris are now considered classics of the genre and greatly influenced the upcoming pochoir artists like Blek le Rat, Nemo, Jerome Mesnager and Mosko. His revolutionary wish to bring art to the people, clever allusions to great artists like Cavaraggio and sense of narrative and character are all still very much a feature of the best street art in Paris. His work is found on walls, on phone booths and these days very much in the studio too(he's still painting) He's also got a site(in French) at http://www.pignon-ernest.com
Jean le Gac is also an artist whose classical gift of style and narrative is strongly inspirational. There are examples of his art in Paris streets(like the one pictured, of a detective). Gerald Zlotykamien's work was very influenced by graffiti, and in turn he influenced the work of modern artists like Speedy Graffito.
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