Paris

Lapin Agile

It is the oldest cabaret in Paris, whose name means "the agile rabbit". In 1860 the place was called the "place of the thieves" and then changed to "the cabaret of the assassins", which indicated the clientele that frequented the neighborhood.

A character of the time, Father Frédé bought it in 1880 and asked the painter André Gilles to change the emblem. The typical dish was the rabbit, for which Gilles draws a rabbit jumping from the pan and at the same time creates a play on words with the name: "Lapin Agile", agile rabbit but also in French "Lapin à Gilles", the rabbit of Gilles.

All the great artists of the time frequented the place, such as Apollinaire, Carco, Dorgeles, Dullin, Utrillo, Jacob, Modigliani and even Picasso, who leaves us a picture of the place.

It is also famous because it was where the painter Dorgeles, in order to make fun of the impressionists, creates a painting where the donkey Lolo, which belonged to Father Frédé, becomes a painter. He names it "Sunshine in the Adriatic Sea" signed by Boronali and sends it without further details to the Hall of the Independents. The press and critics of the time launched a call for Boronali to be known thanks to the unique quality of its composition. Finally a letter to the impressionists confesses everything mocking the impressionists saying that even a donkey could do his work. The impressionists respond that donkeys are accepted, and the only ones that go wrong in history were the artistic critics of the time.