The Nouvelle Athènes was a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

in the

Place Pigalle The Place Pigalle is a public square located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard de Clichy and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, near Sacré-Cœur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill. Location and access The square is locate ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It was a meeting place for impressionist painters, including

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

. Degas painted '' L'Absinthe'' in this place. Another notable denizen was the eccentric composer Erik Satie, who played the piano in the cafe, and was there introduced to a fifteen-year-old Maurice Ravel by Ravel's father. During the 1940s, the café was known as the ''Sphynx''; it was a striptease club frequented by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

and later by the Free French partisans. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was known as the New Moon, a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

venue Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

where Mano Negra, the French Lovers,

Noir Désir Noir Désir (, "Black Desire") was a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold. They have been an influence on n ...

, Calvin Russel, the Naked Apes of Reason,

Les Wampas Les Wampas () are a French punk rock/psychobilly band, who refer more exactly to their music as " Yé-yé-punk". The band was formed in Paris in 1983. History :''See also Discography'' The band's first album, ''Tutti Frutti'' was released in 1 ...

, and many other groups performed. The café building was destroyed by fire in 2004.

External links

Les Amis de la Nouvelle Athènes

The New Monico in 1925

Demolition of the New Moon
Coffeehouses and cafés in Paris Drinking establishments in Paris Strip clubs in France Defunct clubs and societies Dining clubs Music venues in France Cabarets in Paris Nightlife in Paris Former buildings and structures in Paris Impressionist artists 2004 disestablishments in France Former music venues in France French companies disestablished in 2004 {{Paris-geo-stub