238 - School, circa 1940

School, circa 1940 Cabaret Scene, Le Jockey Oil on canvas Dimensions: 129 x 147 cm Part of a series of works that adorned the walls of the Cabaret Le Jockey in Montparnasse. A famous cabaret of the Parisian bohemian scene during the Roaring Twenties, located at 146 Boulevard du Montparnasse, at the corner of Rue Campagne-Première, Le Jockey Club was founded in 1923 by a small colony of expatriate American artists. The idea was to have a club of their own, inspired by American bars and clubs, in the heart of the “Montparnasse village.” Initially decorated in a “Western” style with silhouettes of cowboys, Native Americans, and Wild West motifs painted by the American artist Hilaire Hiler, the atmosphere was deliberately laid-back, with paper tablecloths, mismatched furniture, posters sloppily plastered on the walls, jazz playing around the clock, and a clientele that included famous artists, students, models, writers, and adventurers. It quickly became one of the hubs of Montparnasse’s nightlife, frequented by artists, writers, and American expatriates; there, one could run into the geniuses of the 20th century, including regulars such as Ernest Hemingway, Jean Cocteau, Ezra Pound, Louis Aragon, Tsuguharu Foujita, Tristan Tzara, Moïse Kisling, and above all the famous Kiki de Montparnasse. There, she sang risqué songs, danced the French cancan, improvised acts, and brought the cabaret nights to life. At that time, she lived right next door with Man Ray on Rue Campagne-Première. Many consider that it was at the Jockey that she truly became the “Queen of Montparnasse.” On any given evening, one might encounter a famous painter, a penniless poet, an English aristocrat, and an American jazz musician all in the same place. Unlike Le Dôme or La Coupole, which were cafés or brasseries, the Jockey was a veritable laboratory of modern nightlife: jazz, dancing, liberal mores, and a mix of nationalities and social classes. Many historians consider it to have embodied the freest spirit of Montparnasse in the 1920s.