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Key figures

Origin and history

Le Bateau-Lavoir is a former piano factory transformed in 1889 into artist workshops by architect Paul Vasseur on behalf of Mr Thibouville. Located at 13 Place Émile-Goudeau in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, its wooden and brick structure, spread over a sloped terrain, earned it its nickname evoking a ship. The living conditions were precarious: a single point of water and toilets for 25 tenants, wall holes, and an intense cold winter. Despite this, the site became an artistic pool thanks to its modest rents (15 per month around 1900), attracting painters, sculptors and writers from all over the world.

In 1904, the Bateau-Lavoir became an epicentre of the avant-garde with the arrival of Pablo Picasso, who painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), marking the birth of cubism. Around him were Max Jacob, Juan Gris, Amedeo Modigliani, Kees van Dongen, and Constantin Brâncuși, among others. The Douanier Rousseau was even honored by a banquet in 1908. The artists shared a bohemian life, using materials of recovery ( waxed canvas, dust) in their works, and trying to cope with poverty. The place, nicknamed the "Villa Medici of Modern Painting", symbolized a break with academicism.

The fire of May 1970 almost completely destroyed the city, leaving only the facade. Reconstructed to the same concrete in 1978 by Claude Charpentier, the Bateau-Lavoir preserves today 25 stained glass workshops visible from the Louise-Weber-dite-La-Goulue garden. The unburned part, including original elements, was classified as a historical monument in 1965. Although Montmartre lost his artistic status in favour of Montparnasse after the First World War, the place remains a symbol of the bold creativity of the early twentieth century.

Before its artistic vocation, the building housed a guinguette, Le Poirier- sans-Pareil, closed around 1830 because of a landslide. Repurchased in 1889, he was first called "House of the Trapper" before adopting his definitive name, inspired by his form of ship and spartan conditions. The artists lived there until 1914, when the neighborhood changed with the arrival of tourism and the increase in rents. The Bateau-Lavoir thus embodies a pivotal era, where modern art emerged in a wretched and rich setting.

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