The Lapin Agile is one of the oldest cabarets in Montmartre. It began in 1860 as a tavern called Thieves Meeting Place. Later, the place became known as Cabaret of the Murders, and the walls were decorated with portraits of famous murderers. Legend says that was because a band of gangsters broke in and killed the owner's son in a robbery attempt. The current name comes from the sign painted by Andre Gill: a picture of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan. Residents began calling the place Le Lapin à Gill, meaning Gill's Rabbit. Over time, the name evolved into Cabaret Au Lapin Agile or The Agile Rabbit Cabaret. The original painting was soon stolen, and a reproduction took its place.
In the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century The Lapin Agile became popular within the artistic circles of Montmartre, with Picasso, Modigliani, Apollinaire, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Utrillo and many other artists and writers among its regulars. Pablo Picasso's painting Au Lapin Agile (At the Lapin Agile) helped to make the cabaret world-famous. Read more about this painting https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/486162
Written by Holly Golightly
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