Chat Master Popular Books

Chat Master Biography & Facts

Le Chat Noir (French pronunciation: [lə ʃa nwaʁ]; French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th century entertainment establishment in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by impresario Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 not long after Salis' death. Le Chat Noir is thought to be the first modern cabaret: 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 (Stray Dog Café) to Barcelona (Els Quatre Gats) to London's Cave of the Golden Calf. In its heyday it was a bustling nightclub that was part artist salon, part rowdy music hall. 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 poster 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" zeal with which they advocated their sociopolitical and aesthetic agendas. Goudeau's club met in his house on the Rive Gauche (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, Adolphe Willette, Caran d'Ache, André Gill, Émile Cohl, Paul Bilhaud, Sarah England, Paul Verlaine, Henri Rivière, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Charles Cros, Jules Laforgue, Yvette Guilbert, Charles Moréas, Albert Samain, Louis Le Cardonnel, Coquelin Cadet, Emile Goudeau, Alphonse Allais, Maurice Rollinat, Maurice Donnay, Armand Masson, Aristide Bruant, Théodore Botrel, Paul Signac, Porfirio Pires, August Strindberg, George Auriol, Marie Krysinska, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. 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. 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, 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, 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 Shad.... Discover the Chat Master popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Chat Master books.

Best Seller Chat Master Books of 2024

  • Creating Online Courses with ChatGPT A Step-by-Step Guide with Prompt Templates synopsis, comments

    Creating Online Courses with ChatGPT A Step-by-Step Guide with Prompt Templates

    Cea West

    Key benefits: o ChatGPT will revolutionize your course creation process o Prompt templates are designed for minimal input from you o Hasslefree experience o Seamless course cre...

  • Ultimate Excel with Power Query and ChatGPT synopsis, comments

    Ultimate Excel with Power Query and ChatGPT

    Crispo Mwangi (MVP)

    Transform Your MS Excel Skills with this Ultimate Guide for Professional Success DESCRIPTION The Ultimate Excel with Power Query and ChatGPT is a revolutionary handbook to help you...

  • ChatGPT Secrets synopsis, comments

    ChatGPT Secrets

    John Chmela

    Unlock the full potential of the ChatGPT AI Language Model and discover why it's creating such a buzz. Master its use and explore its diverse features and benefits to enhance your ...

  • Master Logical Analysis with ChatGPT synopsis, comments

    Master Logical Analysis with ChatGPT

    GPT Guru

    In a world increasingly driven by data and technology, the ability to think logically and make sound decisions is more crucial than ever. Logical analysis forms the bedrock of rati...

  • Hornbeam All In synopsis, comments

    Hornbeam All In

    Cynthia Rylant

    It’s three stories in one picture book as Hornbeam the moose embarks on adventures with his friends in this first installment in the series from the creative team behind the Gooseb...

  • Building AI Applications with ChatGPT APIs synopsis, comments

    Building AI Applications with ChatGPT APIs

    Martin Yanev

    Combining ChatGPT APIs with Python opens doors to building extraordinary AI applications. By leveraging these APIs, you can focus on the application logic and user experience, whil...

  • Not Just Chatting synopsis, comments

    Not Just Chatting

    Nicole Christina

    "Bravo! Who would have thought such a vast variety of ways to be entertained, educated, soothed, and best of all to connect with our humanity, via the podcast generation, could be ...