Le Lapin Agile is a restaurant and cabaret in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris, France. It has always had a Bohemian reputation, and at the turn of the 20th century many artists and writers met there to socialize. In the downstairs dining room, an upright piano kept the scene lively in the evenings, with a midget to dance on top of the piano. The Barman worked at the downstairs bar, while the occasional prostitute would stand outside the establishment to find clients.
History[]
La Lapin Agile was established in 1875.[1] In September 1908, Norman Rockwell brought his new friend, Indiana Jones to the restaurant, where Jones ordered in French. While they were eating, they overheard Edgar Degas arguing with Pablo Picasso, while Georges Braque played the accordion. After Degas stormed out, Picasso claimed that he could outdo the old master - a claim rejected by Rockwell. Picasso, Fernande Olivier, and Braque took the boys back to their studio to prove Picasso right.[2]
Inside the dining room
The next evening, Picasso held a costume party in the upstairs area, in honor of his fellow artist Henri Rousseau. Quite a few of Picasso's social circle attended, including Gertrude Stein, Kahnweiler, and the two boys. While Rousseau was telling a ghost story, the party was crashed by Helen Seymour, who had been informed by the barman where the party was being held. Picasso took Seymour at gunpoint to draw her portrait. As the party was breaking up, Kahnweiler expressed his interest in the Degas painting that Picasso had.[2]
The next day in Le Lapin Agile's dining room, Kahnweiler, Picasso and his friends waited for Degas to arrive. Kahnweiler asked the old maestro to sign the painting, and Degas painted his signature after some coaxing. Picasso revealed his plot to humiliate Degas by making a fake painting so well that even the old painter was fooled by it. Jones turned the tables on Picasso by selling Kahnweiler his Picasso drawing - showing that Picasso's work could be faked as well, this time by Rockwell. Kahnweiler bought both pieces, not knowing their true creators, and Jones and his friends celebrated.[2]
In the year 1940, aviator Jock Lindsey was testing out new airplanes by taking them to drinking establishments across the globe. He visited Paris in a Romano R.82 called the F-ANMP and later visited le Lapin Agile. After dining in the bar, Jock took several coasters as souvenirs which he would later repurpose in his own bar.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Le Lapin Agile, as it appears in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles differs significantly from the small real-life building.
The cabaret's eventual name grew around the locals having nicknaming it Le Lapin à Gill (Gill's Rabbit) after artist André Gill painted the signage of the exitsing structure in 1875.[3]
Appearances[]
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Paris, September 1908" → Passion for Life
- The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones – Demons of Deception
- Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar (Mentioned only)
