Frédéric Gérard in Saint-Cyr-sur-Morin, Seine-et-Marne (77)

Frédéric Gérard (or just Frédé) (1860-1938) and his partner Berthe Serboure acquired the famous bar 'Le Lapin Agile' in Montmartre in 1912 – frequented, among many other now famous people, by Pierre Mac Orlan. Frédé's donkey Lolo is of course famous for painting, voir the tricks of Roland Dorgelès elsewhere on this blog.

Roland Dorgelès and Joachim-Raphaël Boronali (aka Lolo the Donkey) in Montmartre, France

I was reading about Roland Dorgelès and his amazing painting spoof when I suddenly remembered I had a photo of the famous bistro the Lapin Agile, in rue des Saules, Montmartre, that I hadn't used. The Lapin Agile is particularly noted for its clientèle over the years, such as Max Jacob, Picasso, Francis Cargo, and Pierre Mac Orlan.

 

And Roland Dorgelès too, who with friends here in 1910 cooked up a plot to cock a snook (or faire un pied de nez if you like) at modern art (and Picasso in particular): he would display a new work of art at the annual Salon des Indépendants exhibition: a painting by an Italian called Joachim-Raphaël Boronali, the creator of a new movement called 'excessivisme'.

 

In reality 'Boronali' was invented by Dorgelès, and the canvas (Et le soleil s'endormit sur l'Adriatique, or 'And the sun set on the Adriatic' to translate more or less literally) was painted by a donkey called Lolo that Dorgelès had borrowed from local Montmartre character Frédéric Gérard (or le Père Frédé): with a paintbrush tied to his tail, Lolo created the masterpiece by wagging it when a carrot was dangled in front of him.

 

A link to my brief post on Dorgelès's grave in Saint Vincent cemetery, Montmartre, is below.

 

 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Roland Dorgelès in Montmartre