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Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment, in the bohemian
Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
district of
Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by the
impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...
Rodolphe Salis Louis Rodolphe Salis (29 May 1851 – 20 March 1897) was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ("The Black Cat") cabaret (known briefly in 1881 at its beginning as "Cabaret Artistique"). With this establishment Salis is remembered as the ...
, and closed in 1897 not long after Salis' death. ''Le Chat Noir'' is thought to be the first modern
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...
: a nightclub where the patrons sat at tables and drank alcoholic beverages while being entertained by a variety show on stage. The acts were introduced by a master of ceremonies who interacted with well-known patrons at the tables. Its imitators have included cabarets from
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
('' Stray Dog Café'') to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
(''
Els Quatre Gats Els Quatre Gats (; ) is a café in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain that famously became a popular meeting place for famous artists throughout the modernist period in Catalonia, known as '' Modernisme''. The café opened on 12 June 1897 in the famous C ...
'') to London's '' Cave of the Golden Calf''. In its heyday it was a bustling nightclub that was part artist
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...
, part rowdy
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in B ...
. From 1882 to 1895 the cabaret published a weekly magazine with the same name, featuring literary writings, news from the cabaret and Montmartre, poetry, and political satire. It was the subject of an iconic
Théophile Steinlen Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (November 10, 1859 – December 13, 1923), was a Swiss-born French Art Nouveau painter and printmaker. Biography Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Steinlen studied at the University of Lausanne before taking a job as ...
poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...
in 1896.


Early history

The cabaret began by renting the cheapest accommodations it could find, a small two-room site located at 84 Boulevard Rochechouart, which is now commemorated by a historical plaque. Its success was assured with the wholesale arrival of a group of radical young writers and artists called ''Les Hydropathes'' ("those who are afraid of water – so they drink only wine"), a club led by the journalist Émile Goudeau. The group claimed to be averse to water, preferring wine and beer. Their name doubled as a nod to the "
rabid Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vio ...
" zeal with which they advocated their sociopolitical and aesthetic agendas. Goudeau's club met in his house on the ''
Rive Gauche The Rive Gauche (, ''Left Bank'') is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two parts. When facing downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or ''Rive D ...
'' (Left Bank), but had become so popular that it outgrew its meeting place. Salis met Goudeau, whom he convinced to relocate the club meeting place across the river on rue de Laval (now rue Victor-Massé).


Second site

''Le Chat Noir'' soon outgrew its first site. In June 1885, three and a half years after opening, it moved to larger accommodations at 12 Rue Victor-Massé. The new venue was the sumptuous old private mansion of the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens, who, at Salis' request, transformed it into a "fashionable country inn" with the help of the architect Maurice Isabey. Soon a growing crowd of poets and singers was gathering at ''Le Chat Noir'', which offered an ideal venue and opportunity to practice their acts before fellow performers, guests and colleagues. With exaggerated, ironic politeness, Salis most often played the role of ''conférencier'' (post-performance lecturer, or master of ceremonies). It was here that the '' Salon des Arts Incohérents'' (Salon of Incoherent Arts), shadow plays, and comic monologues got their start. Famous men and women to patronize ''Le Chat Noir'' included Jane Avril,
Franc-Nohain Maurice Étienne Legrand, who published under the pseudonym Franc-Nohain (; 25 October 187218 October 1934), was a French librettist and poet. He is best known for his libretti for Maurice Ravel's opera ''L'heure espagnole'' and for numerous opere ...
,
Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857, Châlons-sur-Marne4 February 1926, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an "anti-semitic" ...
, Caran d'Ache, André Gill,
Émile Cohl Émile Eugène Jean Louis Cohl (; né Courtet; 4 January 1857 – 20 January 1938) was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest P ...
, Paul Bilhaud, Sarah England,
Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international an ...
, Henri Rivière,
Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
,
Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conse ...
,
Charles Cros Charles Cros or Émile-Hortensius-Charles Cros (October 1, 1842 – August 9, 1888) was a French poet and inventor. He was born in Fabrezan, Aude. Cros was a well-regarded poet and humorous writer. As an inventor, he was interested in the fiel ...
,
Jules Laforgue Jules Laforgue (; 16 August 1860 – 20 August 1887) was a Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symb ...
,
Yvette Guilbert Yvette Guilbert (; born Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, 20 January 1865 – 3 February 1944) was a French cabaret singer and actress of the '' Belle Époque''. Biography Born in Paris into a poor family as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, Guilbert b ...
, Charles Moréas,
Albert Samain Albert Victor Samain (3 April 185818 August 1900) was a French poet and writer of the Symbolist school. Life and works Born in Lille, his family were Flemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his fa ...
, Louis Le Cardonnel, Coquelin Cadet, Emile Goudeau,
Alphonse Allais Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 – 28 October 1905) was a French writer, journalist and humorist. Life Allais was born in Honfleur, Calvados. He died in Paris. Work He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much as ...
, Maurice Rollinat, Maurice Donnay, Armand Masson,
Aristide Bruant Aristide Bruant (; 6 May 1851 – 11 February 1925) was a French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. He is best known as the man in the red scarf and black cape featured on certain famous posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He ...
, Théodore Botrel,
Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the Pointillist style. Biography Paul Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863. H ...
, Porfirio Pires,
August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with t ...
, George Auriol, Marie Krysinska, and
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the ...
. The last shadow play by Salis' company was staged in January 1897, after which Salis took the company on tour. Salis was talking of plans to move the cabaret to a location in Paris itself, but he died on 19 March 1897. The death of Rodophe Salis in 1897 spelled the end of ''Le Chat Noir''. By that time the fascination with Montmartre had already diminished, and Salis had already disposed of many of the club's assets and facilities. Soon after Salis' death, the artists dispersed, and ''Le Chat Noir'' slowly disappeared.


Last location

Ten years later, in 1907, Jehan Chargot opened an eponymous café in an effort to resurrect, modernize, and continue the work of his illustrious predecessor. This new ''Chat Noir'', located at 68, boulevard de Clichy, remained popular into the 1920s. Today a neon sign which incorporates Steinlen's iconic Chat Noir image is on display at 68, Boulevard de Clichy, now the site of a hotel by the same name. Other cabarets successfully copied and adapted the model established by ''Le Chat Noir''. In December 1899, Henri Fursy opened his ''Boîte à Fursy'' cabaret in the former ''Chat Noir'' hotel on rue Victor-Massé. He claimed to have inherited the mantle of Salis, and said his cabaret "has thanks to Fursy become once again the goal of all who 'climb Montmartre' to hear their favorite ''chansonniers'' (singers)..."


Shadow play

From its opening, ''Le Chat Noir'' was thought of as a meeting point for artists, with an interior design in the style of
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
. In the beginning, poets, musicians, writers, and singers performed on the stage, but they were quickly replaced as the shadow play medium developed at ''Le Chat Noir'' and spread from there. The cabaret is still remembered for these. The shadow play had already been established in France in the 18th century and made popular by Dominique Séraphin, but it had disappeared from the art world during the 19th century. ''Le Chat Noir'' was the major cause of the shadow play's renewed popularity in France, as Lotte Reiniger was in Germany by her linking of such shows to the cinema by creating characters from cutout figures and projecting them as shadow puppets. The birth of the shadow plays in ''Le Chat Noir'' took place in a peculiar way. By the end of 1885, the painter Henry Sommer and the illustrator George Auriol built a puppet theater there, intended for adults-only performances. One day Henri Rivière placed a white napkin in front of the opening of the small puppet theater and moved a cardboard puppet behind the white screen with lighting from behind, while Jules Jouy sang, accompanying himself on piano. This was the first shadow play in ''Le Chat Noir''. In 1887 Rivière replaced the puppet theater with a proper shadow theater, with a screen 44 inches high and 55 inches wide, held by a huge frame. Artists such as cartoonist
Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857, Châlons-sur-Marne4 February 1926, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an "anti-semitic" ...
, painter Caran d'Ache, Henri Rivière and George Auriol created the cabaret's shadow plays. They used zinc to create the silhouettes of a few characters (although initially they used cardboard), which they used as puppets, projecting their shadow onto a white screen which was illuminated from behind with electric lights. This was an evolutionary development in the art of shadow plays. Writers who frequented the club wrote stories for the shadow theater that
Rodolphe Salis Louis Rodolphe Salis (29 May 1851 – 20 March 1897) was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ("The Black Cat") cabaret (known briefly in 1881 at its beginning as "Cabaret Artistique"). With this establishment Salis is remembered as the ...
, the owner of the cabaret, would read out loud after the performance. Thanks to the collaboration of many of the artists of that time, the stories were accompanied by some very complex colour, sound, and movement effects, making them more dynamic and exciting, as well as piano accompaniment. Over an eleven-year span these plays were presented nightly in the Shadow Theater, totaling more than forty. The Montmartre museum still has a few zinc shapes that had been used in the plays. The spread of this type of show became successful because of
Théophile Steinlen Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (November 10, 1859 – December 13, 1923), was a Swiss-born French Art Nouveau painter and printmaker. Biography Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Steinlen studied at the University of Lausanne before taking a job as ...
's poster announcing "''la tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis"'', a Shadow Theater tour from ''Le Chat Noir.'' ''Le Chat Noir'' made many tours with the Shadow Theater. These started in 1892, basically around France during the summer, although Salis and the company went to Tunis, Algeria, and other French-speaking countries such as Belgium. Some of the artists who played in Salis' performances became so famous that they founded their own cabarets or shows. ''Le Chat Noir'' was supposed to have its last show and tour in January 1897, since Salis died just after that. However, it was his wife who took the charge of the cabaret and organised other tours. During these shows, Dominique Bonnaud replaced Salis and became the storyteller. Although he did it well, the quality of the performances declined. By then, other establishments had become popular by copying ''Le Chat noirs techniques, shows and decor. Under the management of
Rodolphe Salis Louis Rodolphe Salis (29 May 1851 – 20 March 1897) was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ("The Black Cat") cabaret (known briefly in 1881 at its beginning as "Cabaret Artistique"). With this establishment Salis is remembered as the ...
, ''Le Chat noir'' produced 45 ''théatre d'ombres'' (
shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...
) shows between 1885 and 1896, as the art became more popular in Europe. Behind a screen on the second floor of the establishment, the artist Henri Rivière worked with up to 20 assistants in a large,
oxy-hydrogen Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) gases. This gaseous mixture is used for torches to process refractory materials and was the first gaseous mixture used for welding. Theoretically, a ratio of 2:1 hydrogen:oxygen is eno ...
backlit performance area and used a double optical
lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...
to project backgrounds. Originally cardboard cutouts were used, but zinc figures took their place after 1887. Various artists took part in the creation, including Steinlen,
Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857, Châlons-sur-Marne4 February 1926, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an "anti-semitic" ...
and Albert Robida. Caran d'Ache designed around 50 cutouts for the very popular 1888 show ''L'Epopée''.


Cultural associations

*French-Colombian street artist Chanoir chose his nickname in reference to the poster. *A poster of ''Le Chat Noir'' may be seen prominently in the crime scene photographs from the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson. *A poster of ''Le Chat Noir'' may also be seen prominently in the movie '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' hanging on the wall over the staircase. *''Le Chat Noir'' is the name of the nightclub where
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
and
Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...
rekindle their relationship, in the 1958 movie '' Kings Go Forth''. There is also the famous cat painting with blinking eyes on the entrance wall. *''Le Chat Noir'' was referenced in '' Sakura Taisen''. *A ''Le Chat Noir'' painting is noticeably a background piece in the movie ''
The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney (in his feature directorial ...
''. *A poster of ''Le Chat Noir'' is seen hanging in the bedroom of Claire Carlin, played by
Maude Apatow Maude Annabelle Apatow (born December 15, 1997) is an American actress, best known for portraying Lexi Howard in the HBO drama series ''Euphoria'' (2019–present). She is the elder daughter of filmmaker Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann. A ...
, in the 2020 film ''
The King of Staten Island ''The King of Staten Island'' is a 2020 American comedy-drama film directed by Judd Apatow, from a screenplay by Apatow, Pete Davidson, and Dave Sirus. It stars Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, and Steve Buscemi, and ...
''.


References


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

*


External links


''Le Chat Noir'' 1882-1891
at BnF {{DEFAULTSORT:Chat Noir 1881 establishments in France Companies disestablished in 1897 Cabarets in Paris Montmartre