Le Chat Noir
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For the cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway, see Chat Noir.

Théophile Steinlen, Tournée du Chat Noir, 1896, 135.9 x 95.9 cm, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Chat noir, 1906Le Chat Noir (French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th-century cabaret, meaning entertainment, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard Rouchechouart by the artist Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 (much to the disappointment of Picasso and others who looked for it when they came to Paris for the Exposition in 1900). Its imitators have included cabarets from St. Petersburg (The Stray Dog) to Barcelona (Els Quatre Gats).

Perhaps best known now by its iconic Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen poster art, in its heyday it was a bustling nightclub — part artist salon, part rowdy music hall. The cabaret published its own journal Le Chat Noir. It began as a small, two room affair, but within three and a half years its popularity forced it to move into larger accommodations a few doors down. Salis most often played, with exaggerated, ironic politeness, the role of conférencier (post-performance lecturer, or Emcee). It was here that the Salon des Arts Incohérents (Salon of Incoherent Arts), the "shadow plays" and the comic monologues got their start.

According to Salis: "The Chat Noir is the most extraordinary cabaret in the world. You rub shoulders with the most famous men of Paris, meeting there with foreigners from every corner of the world."


Le Chat Noir todayFamous patrons of the Chat Noir included Adolphe Willette, Caran d'Ache, André Gill, Emile Cohl, Paul Bilhaud, Sarah England, Paul Verlaine, Henri Rivière, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Charles Cros, Jules Laforgue, Charles Moréas, Albert Samain, Louis Le Cardonnel, Coquelin Cadet, Emile Goudeau, Alphonse Allais, Maurice Rollinat, Maurice Donnay, Marie Krysinska, Jane Avril, Armand Masson, Aristide Bruant, Théodore Botrel, Paul Signac, Yvette Guilbert, August Strindberg, and George Auriol.
Biography
Son of a soft drinks manufacturer in Châtellerault, Rodolphe Salis, came to Paris in 1872, after leaving the regiment. He moved into the Hotel de Rome, rue de Seine in the Latin Quarter. It melts "the school or vibrating Iriso Chicago-subversive" [2], to give importance to his artistic group and especially to inspire confidence in publishers religious images. He made indeed to live, paths cross and other religious objects he painted in series with friends.

"In fact, it was mainly intended immediate but not admitted making serial paths cross at eight and fourteen francs each for a shop selling religious articles in the Saint Sulpice. The work, oh so tedious was divided between the four "kids" by their provisions. Rene Gilbert painted heads, hands Wagner, Antonio de La Gandara draperies, Salis, finally, funds and landscapes ..."[3]

To combine the art and the beverage, he had the idea to create a cafe "the purest style of Louis XII ... with a chandelier of wrought iron from the Byzantine period and where the gentry, the burghers and peasants are now invited to drink absinthe usual Victor Hugo and the one preferred Garibaldi [4] and hypocras in golden bowls". In reality, the first tavern The Black Cat, which opened in November 1881, began by serving bad wine in a brief scene, but already at the door, guests were greeted by a Swiss splendidly bedecked covered with gold from head to foot, responsible for bringing the painters and poets, while leaving out the "infamous priests and the military". Salis, tongue-in-cheek admiration was on a high marble fireplace "the skull of Louis XIII child".[5]

On June 10, 1885, with great fanfare, Salis moved to new premises located at 12 Rue Victor Massé.

Salis had met some time ago, Emile Goudeau he was convinced to transfer his property in his Hydropathes, who met on the far left bank. Very quickly, poets and singers who performed at the Black Cat drew the best practice in Paris. They came primarily to spread spiritual rang out often at the expense of customers, arrested a "Well, you're finally out of prison?" or "What does have done with your hen yesterday?" to a new client visibly accompanied by his wife. One evening, the future King Edward VII it was addressed him as follows: "Well, look at me this one: it seems the Prince of Wales all pissed!"


Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen Poster for the tour of the Black Cat, 1896Every Friday, a luncheon was an opportunity to prepare for performances and humorous magazine. In a legendary stinginess,[6] Rodolphe Salis found every excuse in the world for not paying its staff, suppliers and artists. By success, he even asked to be paid by those whom he hosted at Black Cat. But his patter, his organizational skills, personality attracted exceptional in its establishments artists of all kinds and a bigger crowd. He had the idea of playing music in his tavern by installing a piano, which was an innovation, then banned and allowed him to gain an advantage over the competition.

"Male square-shouldered, red hair and dyed vermilion," described Lawrence Tailhade. "Ageless though stout, his face scratched many wrinkles, the breast in a doublet whose romantic satin floral contrasted with the sobriety of a dark coat. Intact, his tawny hair was consistent with its coppery beard and gave him the air of a Flemish reiter ... Baritone bronze emphatic, biting and sarcastic with thunder cynically flouted the Philistines ... Prodigious nature of charlatan."[7]

In the 1890s, he began touring throughout France, renting - something that was not done at the time - the theaters and locations where it occurs, enclosing all receipts and often refuses, under various pretexts, to pay the price of the room rental.[citation needed]

He died in Naintré in 1897.

[edit] Tributes
In the department of Vienne to: Châtellerault Naintré Marigny-Brizay a street bears his name.
18 Boulevard de Clichy in Paris stands a plaque: "Here was the tomb of the Black Cat founded by Rodolphe Salis ..."[8]
[edit] References
1.^ Named Constant Maximin Rodolphe Salis on his birth certificate dated 30 May 1851.
2.^ Theater People Châtellerault: "" Around the Black Cat
3.^ The Song in Montmartre, Michael Herbert, ed. The Round Table
4.^ Absinthe. A Franco-Swiss fairy: fairy Franco-Swiss, Noel Benedict, ed. Cabédita, 2001
5.^ Paris, crossroads of arts and letters, 1880-1918, Jacqueline Baldran, ed. L'Harmattan, 2002
6.^ Journal The Châtelleraudais December 20O7
7.^ Lawrence Tailhade disliked because of Salis Salis mockery made Pulic, Lawrence Tailhade or provocation considered a lifestyle, Gilles Picq, Jean - Pierre Rioux, ed. Maisonneuve & Larose, 2001
8.^ On the walls of Paris: Guide plaques Dautriat Alain, ed. Inventory, 1999
[edit] Sources
Mariel Oberthür, Musée d'Orsay,The Black Cat, 1881-1897: exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay from February 25 to May 31, 1992, Meeting of National Museums, 1992
Lawrence Tailhade, Little Memoirs of the Life, ed. BiblioBazaar, 2008
Anne de Bercy, Armand Ziwès, Montmartre ... In the evening, ed. Grasset, 1951
Edmond Deschaumes, Le Cabaret du Chat Noir, Journal encyclopedic 1897
[edit] External links
The Black Cat - Anthology of poets from Black Cat
Biography of Rodolphe Salis