Midnight Monday

 

 

Le Lapin Agile, at night.

 

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It's midnight in Paris, and had this been the 1860s, this quiet Montmartre venue, once a lively cabaret, would be in full swing, with patrons reveling both inside and out. When it first opened its name was Au rendez-vous des voleurs ("Where Thieves Meet”) and then, about 20 years later, its walls adorned with portraits of notorious murderers, earned it the name Cabaret des Assassins. Legend has it that this name arose after a gang of robbers broke in, killing the owner's son during a failed robbery.

 

Was Pablo Picasso a patron, as the title of Steve Martin's play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" suggests? An oil-on-canvas by Picasso (Au Lapin Agile) dated 1905 and painted during his Rose Period, includes a contemplative self-portrait of young Pablo - he's the harlequin - who was a regular. The work fetched $40.7 million at Sotheby’s on November 27, 1989, making it one of the priciest paintings ever. By 1905, the Lapin Agile’s owner, Frédéric Gérard, tapped the 25-year-old artist to paint something for the club’s walls, offering him free meals and drinks as payment. Picasso, never one to say no to a deal, whipped up Au Lapin Agile - and the rest is art history. - BPJ