Le Chat Noir

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Le Chat Noir , engraving by Paul Merwart , around 1885
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen : Le Chat noir , poster 1896

Le Chat Noir (German The Black Cat ) was a popular Parisian cabaret on Montmartre from 1881 to 1897 , founded by Rodolphe Salis . In the fin de siècle it was a meeting place for many chanson singers, artists, writers and actors and it became the epitome of Parisian bohemianism .

The establishment was opened on November 18, 1881 by Impresario Salis at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart and soon moved to 12 Rue Victor-Masse. In 1897, shortly after his death, it was closed. Le Chat Noir is believed to be the first modern cabaret : a nightclub where guests sat at tables, sipping alcoholic beverages while being entertained with stage performances. The individual acts were presented by a conférencier , who also interacted with the regular guests. The concept has been copied many times, including the Stray Dog Café in Saint Petersburg and Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona .

In its heyday, the café was a much-frequented nightclub , which was sometimes a sophisticated artist salon or sometimes a noisy café concert . The cabaret also published its own newspaper, a humorous journal called Le Chat Noir, until 1887 . The famous poster by Théophile Steinlen is still present and reprinted a million times .

Beginning on Boulevard Rochechouart

The establishment had its beginnings in one of the cheapest accommodations available at the time, a former post office with two rooms at 84 Boulevard Rochechouart (today a plaque commemorates it). Salis's long-cherished idea of ​​an artist's café, which he intended to open, was to be “in the purest style of Louis XIII”, “with an iron chandelier forged in the Byzantine era and the nobles, the bourgeoisie and the peasants would from now on invited to drink the usual absinthe like Victor Hugo (the one Garibaldi preferred) and the Hypocras made from golden cups ”. In order to set himself apart from the many other artist pubs on Montmartre, he called his bar cabaret artistique , in the linguistic usage at the time, a kind of restaurant with cabaret to entertain the guests. It was intended to serve as a meeting place for artists and painters to exchange ideas. One of the first regulars was Aristide Bruant , who wanted to break away from his burlesque cafe-concert past by entering the artist cabaret scene . With Émile Goudeau , Salis came up with the idea of bringing his anti-bourgeois literary circle (see also decadence poetry ) Les Hydropathes ("those who are afraid of water - that's why they only drink wine") to the establishment. In the first few days, cheaper wine was served, as was the interior design rather spartan. A special feature, however, was the Swiss guardsman at the entrance door, dressed in a gold-adorned uniform . He was responsible for leading the painters and poets in, but for preventing the "infamous clergy and the military" from entering. One of the special objects in the restaurant was “the skull of Ludwig XIII. “, But the size of a child's head. For the first time in a variety theater, a piano was allowed to be placed on the stage, which until then was prohibited by the police.

But the Chat Noir not only developed into a meeting place for the bohemians , but was also increasingly frequented by the upscale Parisian society, so that the small restaurant quickly became too narrow. The constant stream of people from other districts also drew the suspicion of the local criminal scene, which usually had no access, so that there was scuffle at the door. This culminated in a knife fight in which a waiter was killed and several guests were injured. Even Salis himself is said to have been injured. Salis therefore decided in 1885 to move with his entourage to the three-story villa of the painter Alfred Stevens in the Rue de Laval (today Rue Victor Massé). Aristide Bruant , who was tolerated by the pimps as “one of their own”, took over the old premises and set up his famous Le Mirliton (The Reed Flute). It was also he who wrote the famous song Le Chat Noir a year earlier . It contained the well-known refrain “Je cherche fortune, Autour du Chat Noir, Au clair de la lune, A Montmartre!”.

Rue Victor-Masse

Restaurant on 68 Boulevard de Clichy, photo from 1929
Interior of Les Chat Noir, engraving by Paul Merwart, 1886
Le Chat Noir on Boulevard de Clichy, postcard

Le Chat Noir, now at 12 Rue Victor-Masse (at the time it opened in 1885, still called 12 Rue de Laval ), was laid out quite luxuriously. The three-story house was converted into an “extravagant country inn ” by Salis and with the help of the architect Maurice Isabey . In the various large rooms he had illustrators such as Henri Rivière and Caran d'Ache set up pseudo-historical stage sets. Henri Rivière also built the colored shadow plays with him , on which small masterpieces were given. The performances were accompanied by the house pianists Georges Fragerolle and Erik Satie , who also wrote most of the pieces of music.

On June 10, 1885, the café was officially opened, along with a symbolic procession from the old location to the new square. Very soon young poets and singers found their stage in Paris to show their work. With exaggerated, ironic politeness Salis played to the master of ceremonies , the "Seigneur de Ville Chat Noir" as he called it. Salis also liked to describe his establishment as the most extraordinary (“plus extraordinaire”) cabaret in the world.

You sat shoulder to shoulder with the most famous people in Paris and you met people from all over the world. Famous guests of Chat Noir were, besides the already mentioned artists and personalities, among others Jane Avril , Franc-Nohain , Adolphe Willette , André Gill , Émile Cohl , Paul Bilhaud, Sarah England, Paul Verlaine , Claude Debussy , Charles Cros , Jules Laforgue , Yvette Guilbert , Charles Moréas , Albert Samain , Louis Le Cardonnel, Coquelin Cadet , Alphonse Allais , Maurice Rollinat , Maurice Donnay , Armand Masson , Théodore Botrel , Paul Signac , August Strindberg , George Auriol , Marie Krysinska , Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and General Boulanger . Even the Prince of Wales is said to have been incognito among the guests.

Local politicians were also guests of Salis, so that he was spared the constant reports of neighbors and envious people through their benevolent influence.

The restaurant was now occupied with an audience almost at every hour of the day and night. No admission was taken, but consumption, mainly beer mugs, was priced correspondingly higher.

From 1892, the Chat Noir ensemble also traveled around the country and presented their shadow theater in other places.

The end

Tin sign of Le Chat Noir, original

The last performance of the shadow theater was given in January 1897. Salis still spoke of plans to move the cabaret, but died after a short illness on March 19, 1897. The interior of the restaurant, the shadow puppets and the estate of Rodolphe Salis were sold in three auctions (April 1897, May 1898 and March 1904) . The enamelled tin sign, designed by Adolphe Willette , adorned the outside facade of the Chat Noir as a nose shield and is now in the Musée Carnavalet . In 1939, neon advertising was created based on this old design. Other cabarets successfully copied the concept of chat noir around the world. The well-known name has also been used for various restaurants and clubs around the world.

In December 1899, Henri Fursy opened his Boîte à Fursy Cabaret at 68, Boulevard de Clichy. He assumed that he had taken on the role of Salis and said his cabaret would "thanks to his dedication once again be the destination of all those who climb Montmartre to hear their popular singers ...". Later, the location took over the name Chat Noir and expanded it to include a hotel area. Today the Chat Noir still exists here, but is only a café bar with occasional music events - attached to a design hotel and with only a few external features that are reminiscent of its eventful past.

The magazine Le Chat Noir

Cover of the journal Le Chat Noir, issue 152, December 6, 1884

To ensure additional advertising for the cabaret, Salis and Émile Goudeau created a weekly magazine and named it after the restaurant. In addition to printed stories, there were also numerous caricatures about contemporary artists. From January 14, 1882 to March 1895, 688 issues of the journal were published, most recently with a print run of 20,000 copies. In a second series, another 122 issues were produced, of which the last issue appeared on September 30, 1897. The magazine embodied the spirit of the fin de siècle in its lines and described in its editions all the poets and artists who performed there or who contributed to the design of the cabaret. However, songs or lyrics were rarely published. An exception was the "Ballad of Chat Noir" Aristide Bruants in the August 9, 1884 edition. In the journal Le Chat Noir published Jean Lorrain his first article. Other famous authors who contributed to the magazine were Paul Verlaine , Jean Richepin or Léon Bloy . The articles were provided with illustrations by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homage to Salis le Grand . In: 88 notes pour piano solo , Jean-Pierre Thiollet , Neva Editions, 2015, p. 146, ISBN 978 2 3505 5192 0 .
  2. ↑ About Les Hydropathes , Jason Smith and Raymond Nault (English)
  3. ↑ "If today pianists are represented in numerous cabarets, as well as a little all over the world, it is thanks to Rodolphe Salis" (Hommage à Salis le Grand). In: 88 notes pour piano solo , Jean-Pierre Thiollet , Neva Editions, 2015, pp. 146–147, ISBN 978 2 3505 5192 0 .
  4. ^ Armond Fields: A Montmartre Cabaret and Its Artists in Turn-Of-The Century . Santa Barbara Museum of Art, January 1994, ISBN 978-0899510873 .
  5. ^ Jean-Pierre Delaune and Alphonse Allais: On ne badine pas avec l'humour d'Allais . Omnibus, February 27, 2016, accessed May 1, 2016. online
  6. ^ Bruno's Weekly , March 4, 1916
  7. ^ Original recording of Le Chat Noir by Bruant
  8. ^ Francis Gouge: Le Chat noir, cabaret extraordinaire. Le Monde , October 10, 2012, accessed April 28, 2016 (French).
  9. ↑ Leona Rittner, W. Scott Haine: The Thinking Space: The Café as a Cultural Institution in Paris, Italy and Vienna The Thinking Space online 2016, (English)
  10. ^ Roger Stein : The German Dirnenlied: literary cabaret from Bruant to Brecht . Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar, 2006, p. 72, ISBN 978-3412033064 online (German)
  11. ↑ Restoration of the shadow play figures of Chat Noir (French)
  12. ↑ Michael L. Wilson: The Eccentric Masculinity of Aristide Bruant University of Texas at Dallas, 2008

literature

Web links

Commons : Le Chat Noir  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files