Editing Lapin Agile

[[File:Le Lapin Agile par Raphaël Toussaint.jpg|thumb|''Le Lapin Agile'', painting by [[Raphaël Toussaint]]]]
[[File:Lapin agile.jpg|thumb|Au Lapin Agile, ''ca'' 1880–1890]]
{{short description|Montmartre cabaret venue in Paris since 1880}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{About|the Lapin Agile cabaret club in [[Montmartre]], Paris|the painting by [[Pablo Picasso]]|Au Lapin Agile}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2016}}
{{Coord|48.8886|2.33998|display=title}}'''Lapin Agile''' {{IPA|fr|la.pɛ̃ a.ʒil|}} is a famous [[Montmartre]] [[cabaret]], at 22 Rue des Saules, [[18th arrondissement of Paris]], France.

== History ==
[[File:André Gill - Au Lapin Agile.jpg|thumb|upright .8|Reproduction of the "Lapin à Gill" sign]]
The venue existed circa 1860 under the name '''Au rendez-vous des voleurs''', meaning "Where the Thieves Meet".<ref>{{cite web | title= Le cabaret des assassins| url=http://www.lemanoirdeparis.fr/spectacles/histoire-des-legendes-de-paris/177-le-cabaret-des-assassins.html| access-date=16 February 2016}}</ref> Some twenty years later, the walls were decorated with portraits of famous murderers and the place became known as the '''Cabaret des Assassins'''.<ref>{{cite web | title= Le Lapin Agile … l'ancien Cabaret des Assassins| url=http://www.pariszigzag.fr/histoire-insolite-paris/le-lapin-agile-ou-lancien-cabaret-des-assasins| access-date=11 February 2016}}</ref> Tradition relates that the cabaret received this name because a band of gangsters broke in and killed the owner's son in a robbery attempt.<ref>{{cite book | title= The Other Paris|isbn = 9780571325870| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruSpCgAAQBAJ&q=luc+sante+lapin+agile&pg=PT366| access-date=9 January 2024|last1 = Sante|first1 = Luc|author-link=Lucy Sante|date = 2015| publisher=Faber & Faber }}</ref>

In 1875, the artist [[Andre Gill]] painted the sign that was to suggest its permanent name. It was a picture of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan, and residents began calling their neighbourhood night-club '''Le Lapin à Gill''', meaning "Gill's rabbit". Over time, the name had evolved into "Cabaret Au Lapin Agile", or the Nimble Rabbit Cabaret. The original painting on canvas was stolen in 1893;<ref>{{cite web| title=Au Lapin Agile| url=http://www.au-lapin-agile.com/pdf/asslap2.pdf| access-date=26 February 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012203132/http://www.au-lapin-agile.com/pdf/asslap2.pdf| archive-date=12 October 2007| url-status=dead}}</ref> a reproduction on timber was painted to take its place.

The Lapin Agile was bought in the early twentieth century by the cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner [[Aristide Bruant]] to save it from demolition.<ref>{{cite web | title= Butte montmartre : Au Lapin Agile| url=http://www.paris-a-nu.fr/le-lapin-agile-ou-le-lapin-a-gill/| access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> The Lapin Agile became a favourite spot for struggling artists and writers, including [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], [[Amedeo Modigliani|Modigliani]], [[Guillaume Apollinaire|Apollinaire]], Roman Greco, and [[Maurice Utrillo]].

The Lapin Agile is located in the centre of the Montmartre district in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, behind and slightly northwest of [[Sacré-Cœur, Paris|Sacre Coeur Basilica]]. Since this was the heart of artistic Paris at the turn of the twentieth century, there was much discussion at the cabaret about "the meaning of art".

The Lapin Agile was also popular with Montmartre residents including pimps, eccentrics, poorer people, local anarchists, as well as with students from the [[Latin Quarter]] and a sprinkling of upper-class bourgeoisie.

== Existing venue ==
[[File:Au Lapin Agile 2011.jpg|thumb|Au Lapin Agile (June 2011)]]
The Lapin Agile is largely unchanged and maintains its tradition as an informal cabaret venue. It is located in a stone building on the steep and cobbled Rue des Saules and showcases poets and singers who perform French songs dating back as far as the fifteenth century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lapin Agile Cabaret In Paris France|url=https://www.placesinfrance.com/lapin_agile_cabaret_paris.html|access-date=2021-01-09|website=www.placesinfrance.com}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Pablo Picasso's 1905 oil painting, ''[[Au Lapin Agile]]'' ("At the Lapin Agile") helped to make this cabaret world-famous.<ref>{{cite web|title=At the Lapin Agile|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/486162|access-date=11 February 2016}}</ref> The cabaret has been captured on canvas by other Montmartre artists, such as Roman Greco and [[Maurice Utrillo]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Barnes Collection Online — Maurice Utrillo: Lapin Agile, Montmartre|url=https://collection.barnesfoundation.org/objects/5445/barnes-collection-object/|access-date=2021-01-09|website=Barnes Collection Online — Maurice Utrillo: Lapin Agile, Montmartre|language=en}}</ref>

=== Stage adaptations ===
In 1993 American comedian and entertainer, [[Steve Martin]], wrote a play, ''[[Picasso at the Lapin Agile]]'', which had a successful run in Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The play depicted an imagined meeting in 1904 between [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Albert Einstein]] at the Lapin Agile.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Virtusio|first=Jessi|date=6 February 2020|title=Beverly Theatre Guild gears up for Steve Martin comedy 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-ent-picasso-lapin-agile-st-0214-20200206-vwrqk3nbebgptgy6u6o5d7uqhe-story.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 January 2021|website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://au-lapin-agile.com/ Au Lapin Agile website]

[[Category:Cabarets in Paris]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the 18th arrondissement of Paris]]
[[Category:Montmartre]]