SOME OF THE CHANSONNIERS IN THE CABARET QUAT-Z’ARTS
This was the beginning of the shadow shows which made for years the Chat Noir famous. Here appeared the famous creations of Rivière and Flagerolle, the March à l’Etoile and l’Enfant Prodigue.
Later an ingenious shadow stage with intricate mechanism was installed and a series of shadow plays followed. Many of the puppets for these exist to-day in the cabaret of the Quat-Z’Arts, some of which are the work of Caran d’Ache.
Much of what once made the Chat Noir famous exists to-day in the best known of all the Montmartrois cabarets, the Quat-Z’Arts. Here sing the best of the chansonniers, and there is seldom a night when the back room of the cabaret in which this “smoker” occurs is not obliged to close its doors because there is literally no place for one more chair. The accompanist at the piano has hardly room for his elbows, and the singer just enough space to stand in. The walls of the low-ceiled room are hung with the inimitable caricatures by Léandre and with sketches by celebrated artists.
The front room by which you enter and which is used as a café is a picturesque interior filled with busts and bas-reliefs, and more of Léandre’s clever drawings.
A rustic stairway leads to a rambling gallery above.
The whole resembles the interior of some quaint, half-timbered tavern filled with artistic productions of men of genius. The interior of the Quat-Z’Arts was not made to order; it grew, and it walls are hung with souvenirs gathered from its clientèle of comrades whose work as sculptors and draftsmen is known the world over.
The singers whose songs and satires have made the Quat-Z’Arts famous are men of rare genius and fine intellect, and by no means the idle bohemians you might expect to find.
Dominique Bonnaud is such a man. As a singing satirist, a polished writer and the most subtle of humorists, he stands preeminent. Bonnaud was at one time secretary to Prince Bonaparte, and in eleven years of travel made several voyages around the world. His experiences at foreign courts and among foreign potentates have supplied him with themes for many of his satires. These deal with politics and current topics, and hit at nobility in general and some noblemen in particular.
To the chansonnier Jean Bataille is due an interesting revival of the old songs of France. Songs like “Monsieur le Curé” and the “French Grenadier” Bataille sings with rare charm. He is essentially an entertainer, and outside of his nightly appearance at the Quat-Z’Arts has made a success in several revues of his own invention. In these he has played at regular theaters, the Mathurins and the Capucines. There is nothing of the type of a bohemian singer in the personality of Monsieur Bataille. This polished man of the world passed through a brilliant career as a member of the bar and was at one time secretary to the Minister of Interior.