We have reached the weekend and today the Family Walker will be visiting relatives in a Christmas-y fashion, so I better crack on with today's cat lady and picture...
Edith Holman Hunt and Cat
I've always loved this photo of Edith, second wife of William Holman Hunt and her cat who really doesn't care what she is doing because it is comfy and she better not move.
Today's cat painting is possibly the most iconic of the bunch and one I almost overlooked because I didn't think of it as a 'painting', but how could I talk about Victorian era cats without this beauty...
Le Chat Noir (1896) Théophile Steinlen
Has there ever been a teenage, art-nouveau-obsessed wall that didn't either have or crave the Black Cat poster? I knew the image very well but hadn't really ever thought about what was being advertised, so jumped at the chance to learn more and feel really bohemian while doing it.
Le Chat Noir, well one of them...
Well, first thing I learned was that there wasn't just one Black Cat, and the poster did not appear under its first venue. Le Chat Noir, a nightclub owned by Rudolphe Salis, opened in 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart in Montmartre. It was known briefly as the Cabaret Artistique but very soon became Le Chat Noir, frequented by young writers and artists who knew how to have a good time. It was a roaring success and a few years after opening, it moved premises to 12 Rue Victor-Massé (seen above), previous home of artist Alfred Stevens.
La Parisienne Japonaise (1872) Alfred Stevens
The venue became the place for performers to go to hone their act and Salis was an infamously sharp master of ceremonies, insulting his patrons who left early or arrived late. The clientele included some of the most famous names in the artistic community in Paris, which is why it is unsurprising that Théophile Steinlen frequented the club...
Lait Pur Stérilisé de la Vingeanne (1897) Théophile Steinlen
Swiss-born Steinlen studied at Lausanne before taking a design post in France. Encouraged by a fellow artist, he moved his wife and family to Paris to dedicate himself to his craft, living within the artistic Montmatre community. He attended the Chat Noir where he received the commission to create the now universally known poster. Interestingly, it might have been the Chat Noir's singer Aristide Bruant who commissioned the poster, and you'll know Bruant from another very well-known poster of the time...
Ambassadeurs Aristide Bruant (1892) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Blimey, it's all posters today. Anyway, Le Chat Noir did not last much longer, closing in 1896 shortly before Salis's death the year after. Different clubs have used the name in the last century but none managed to capture that bohemian essence. I love the reference to it in the Bromsgrove and Droitwich Messenger in 1890, talking about all-round saucepot Prince Henri de Chartres, a frequent flier at Le Chat Noir 'in the company of Royalist nobles of his age and of fast women. He contracted many debts, gambled constantly, and had no luck. One of his gambling debts amounted to 700,000 francs.'I hope you have a stylish weekend with not too many gambling debts and as many fast women as you feel up to. If you fancy reading more about Steinlen there is a charming piece about his cat pictures here.
Chairman Meow, being art-nouveau with a bike wheeel behind him...
Absinthe permitting, I'll see you tomorrow...
