On the edginess of cats

Strolling the sunny streets of Paris in the summer, I came across the Le Chat Noir café in Montmartre and thought of the celebrated poster, ‘La Tournée du Chat Noir’. Beyond that, though, I was as ignorant about it as the black cat himself would be about Quantum Physics. Then, returning to Durham and finding the very poster on sale, I felt it my duty to make its story known.

Commissioned by Rodolphe Salis in 1896, the poster became the epitome of all that Salis and his cabaret, ‘Le Chat Noir’, stood for: literature, art, and sexuality.

With echoes of the work of Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe, and of the ‘shadow’ theatre of the cabaret, the black cat in Théophile Alexandre Steinlen’s poster ‘La Tournée du Chat Noir’ has – or had – a certain edge.
But is that edge still there? And is it there for the right reasons? Originally an advert for a theatre tour, it’s now everywhere, from student rooms to Montmartre’s tacky tourist stalls. Yes, it is clearly admired, but its ubiquity suggests it has been trivialised and lost artistic value. Arguably, if it was intended as a publicity piece and not solely as a work of art, then it has acquired value rather than shed it. The angular features and yellow-green eyes that threaten to pierce through anyone and everyone deserve conscious praise, rather than an arbitrary, “That’s cool and vintage. I’ll stick that on my wall”.

   Think of the letters which curl like the cat’s tail and share the lightness of his well-preened whiskers, and of the animal’s quiet confidence as he sits. Quietly ominous, this is perhaps characteristic of Stienlen, who was no idealist, and often portrayed the unappealing aspects of life in Montmartre in his works. This sinister nature lurks silently and persistently in the cat’s frighteningly mesmerising gaze.

   The cat also has religious symbolism, highlighting the popularity and following of Salis’ troupe. Marcello Dudovich’s ‘Vermouth Bianco’ has similar religious allusions. Dressed in an understated gown, the figure, with her relaxed slouching shoulders, wears an expression of acute pleasure, as if she is tasting sensuality itself. However, this is a pure experience, or so her Buddha-like pose implies. A contemporary of Steinlen, Dudovich is also an artistic and advertising genius, as the Buddha’s usual lotus flower is exchanged for a delicate glass of the ambrosial liquid.

Both seem worthy of the deified status bestowed lavishly on them by us students. But next time you acquire one of these treasures, be sure to think a little of its history and its charms. Who knows, you might even find yourself succumbing to some sumptuously golden liquor as a result.

From Palatinate, issue 711, 6 November 2009