Le Chat Noir

A black cat silhouette appears on the signage of the building on the corner of Boulevard de Clichy. This was the home of Le Chat Noir, the first modern cabaret, opened by Rodolphe Salis in eighteen eighty-one. Patrons paid an entrance fee to listen to poets and musicians perform in an atmosphere that blended high art with rowdy tavern life. When the police eventually shut down the upstairs cabaret for noise violations, Salis simply moved his entire operation to a larger venue down the street.