Moulin Rouge

Paris, from Montmarte to the Place Blanche

Such a 'Belle Epoque'

Nonchalance, light-heartedness and 'joie de vivre'... these are the words that could best sum-up this unique period in the history of France. It was a moment of respite between two wars, a period of transition between two centuries, during which social barries collapsed and the industrial revolution gave hope of a better life for all, in a rich cultural profusion of fun and frivolity. The middle-class mixed the riff-raff; popular culture was enhanced by a happy disorderof job and vitality. In this atmosphere, which favored artistic creativity, literary circles appeared and dissapeard according to chance encounters, which painters and illustrators grew increasingly inspired by this joyful, sometimes outrageous but full of fantasy atmostphere that broke with the former rigid classicism of the period 'Japonism', a movement of Far-Eastern inspiration which used Japanese influences in French art, was at its height. Toulous-Lautrec, with his famous Japanese engravings, was one of its most famous disciples at that time. The atmosphere fitted perfectly the appearance of this first cabarets, such as the Moulin Rouge in 1889. The masters of the place were Joseph Oller and charles Zidler. they nicknamed their establishmend Le Premier Palais des Femmes (The First Women Palace) and bet on their success, enthusiastically claiming to whoever listened that the Moulin Rouge would became a temple of music and dance. On the very first day, their hopes were fullfilled, the other music halls just had to learn!!

Times of the 7th Art

Concerning architecture, Gustave Eiffel, a real genius with iron, now began his most spectacular project: a 300 meter high tower that could be admired from anywhere in paris. This was to be the main attraction of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. Another event of major importance during those years was the first cinematographic screening. On the 28th of December 1895, in the Indian lounge of the Grand Cafe, Boulevard des capucines, Paris, 23 guest attended an extraordinary show by the Lumiere brothers. The photograph that had just been projected onto a small screen had come to life! coaches, horses and passers-by started to move, a real-life street appeard on the scree." At this sight, we stood open-mouthed, compeletely overawed" said the conjurer Georges melies, who later became famous by making more than 500 movies filled with fantasy and poetry, such as the remarkable Voyage dans la lune (Journey to the Moon) in 1902. PAt the following exhibition, in 1900, it was Hector Grimard who found fame. In the ever-changing expression at Art Noveau, the gave a new style to the entrances of the Parisian subway, the Metropolitan, never before seen. Blanche station was the first to see the decorative arabesques and leaf-like curves, blending with amazing energy and vivacity.

The Butte Montmartre, bastion of pleasure

In the midst of this effervescence, the Butte Montmarte figures as symbol. In 1891, the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur was inaugurated with the pomp. It was hoped that, with the basilica on the hill-top, a little prestige would be back to the ill-frequented hill. However, against all expectations, the proximity of the Holy place to the Hell-like slopes only added more character to this mecca of Parisian life. Eccentrices, artists and performeres continued going to cabarets, music-halls and cafes in large numbers, joined by the middle-classes, aristocrats and socialites who were becoming increasingly attracted to night-time pleasures. Cafe-concerts became the true symbol of this social and cultural melting-pot. Workers, artists, middle-classes and aristocrats gathered at the same table in a joful atmostphere of freast and frivolity. Here again, painters found the inspiration, among them Toulouse-Lautrec, a regular customer in the area, who came to immportalize the strange, colorful scene that lie midway between frenetic entertainment and tragic lives of lower classes, in famous painting such as Le Chat Noir and La Goulue.

The most famous cabaret in the world opens its doors

On the 6th of October, at the foot of Butle Montmarte, the atmosphere was pretty festive, a new music-hall was opening in the Jardin de Paris, the Moulin Rouge, and it wasn't going unnoticed. The public came in mass to Place Blanche, to discover this extravagant place with its huge dance floor, mirrors everywhere, and galleries that were the last word in elegance, to mix with the riffraff and girls of easy virtue, in a garden decorated with a big elephant with ries on donkeys for the ladies' pleasure. The was a wild atmosphere that the show was not only the stage but all around: aristocrats and louts in caps had fun side by side, in an atmosphere of total euphoria.

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