Boulevard de Clichy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"We mounted a Montmartre bus and were pulled up the hill to the Boulevard Clichy, the main artery of that strange Bohemian mountain with its eccentric, fantastic, and morbid attractions. Before us, in the Place Blanche, stood the great Moulin Rouge, the long skeleton arms of the Red Mill marked with red electric lights and slowly sweeping across the heavens, while fanciful figures of students and dancing girls looked out the windows of the mill, and a great crowd of lively, chatting, laughing people were pushing their way toward the entrance of this famous dance-hall of Paris. Mr. Thompkins, entranced before the brilliant spectacle, asked somewhat hesitatingly if we might enter; but Bishop, wise in the ways of Montmartre, replied,—"Not yet. It is only a little after nine, and the Moulin does not get wide awake for some hours yet. We have no time to waste while waiting for that. We shall first visit heaven." Mr. Thompkins looked surprised, but made no response. Presently we reached the gilded gates of Le Cabaret du Ciel."--Bohemian Paris of To-day (1899) by W. C. Morrow |
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The Boulevard de Clichy, which lends its name to the Place de Clichy, resulted from the fusion, in 1864, of the roads that paralleled the Wall of the Farmers-General, both inside and out. It extends from the Place de Clichy to the Rue des Martyrs, nearly a kilometre away. During its tenure, the street has been known as the Boulevard des Martyrs, then the Boulevard Pigalle, and, finally, the Boulevard de Clichy. It is equally well-known as the Boulevard Clichy.
Notable buildings on the Boulevard de Clichy
- No. 6, Boulevard de Clichy: The painter, Edgar Degas, lived here; he also died on the fifth floor of this house, in 1917, aged 83.
- No. 11: This house was occupied by Théophile Delcassé, for many years the French Foreign Minister, and it was also the rented quarters of many artists, among them Pablo Picasso in 1909.
- No. 12: This was studio of French painter William Didier-Pouget, and the pied-à-terre, in 1910, of the painter, Francis Tattegrain.
- No. 18, Boulevard Pigalle: Here, the American painter, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, executed the portrait of Joanna Hiffernan, a painting known as La Fille Blanche, during the winter of 1861–1862.
- No. 34: Cabaret du Néant
- No. 36: Now the Paris headquarters of the Lebanese comedy troupe, the Théâtre de Dix-Heures, this building was the home of Honoré Daumier, the characaturist and painter, from 1869 to 1873.
- No. 53: Location of the old cabarets Le Ciel and L'Enfer.
- No. 62: The site of the Café du Tambourin, the restaurant owned by Agostina Segatori associated with Vincent van Gogh and other painters.
- No. 65: The painter, Jean-Léon Gérôme, had his studio here from 1884 to 1900; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec may also have lived in the building at some stage. The Sainte-Rita Chapel has occupied the ground floor since 1956.
- No. 68: This is the second, and ultimate, home of the old cabaret, Le Chat noir (The Black Cat), which originally opened around the corner at 84 Boulevard Rouchechouart. This place was esteemed for its excellent (and surprising) entertainments.
- No. 72: Musée de l'Erotisme (Museum of Eroticism).
- No. 75: The Italian painter Fausto Zonaro rented a studio in 1888.
- No 77: Lycée Jules-Ferry (secondary school). opened in 1913 after the property was rebuilt.
- No. 82: Beginning in 1889, this is where the Moulin-Rouge (Red Mill), the home of the Can-can, opened its doors. It was founded by Joseph Oller.
- No. 100: Now the Théâtre des Deux Ânes (Two Donkeys Theatre), this building was once the cabaret known as the Cabaret des Truands (Cabaret of Truants).
