Cabaret Au Lapin Agile Paris

Cabaret Au Lapin Agile is a famous Montmartre cabaret at 22 Rue des Saules, in Paris’s 18th arrondissement. It occupies one of the oldest buildings on the hill, built in 1795, making the address distinctive before you even reach its artistic history.

What is Cabaret Au Lapin Agile Paris?

Cabaret Au Lapin Agile is a Montmartre artistic cabaret housed in a building that dates to 1795. Its location is 22 Rue des Saules in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, placing this landmark within the historic Montmartre neighbourhood.

The building is described as the last of Montmartre’s artistic cabarets. That distinction matters: Lapin Agile is not presented simply as a venue for entertainment, but as a place closely connected with the neighbourhood’s artistic culture.

Why is Lapin Agile important to Montmartre’s artistic history?

Lapin Agile became a cultural institution for Montmartre’s bohemians after Aristide Bruant converted the building into an Artistic Cabaret in 1904. Bruant was a famous singer and nightclub owner, and his role helped establish the cabaret as an important meeting place for the area’s artists.

At an Artistic Cabaret, artists could gather and share their work while drinking late into the night. Writers exchanged ideas, painters discussed technique, poets gave spontaneous readings of their latest work, and street singers performed for tips. These venues were different from the dance halls associated with cancan girls, giving Lapin Agile a specifically artistic identity.

What should you look for at Cabaret Au Lapin Agile?

Look closely at the façade for the rabbit that gave the cabaret its name. Le Lapin Agile means “Agile Rabbit”, and the name followed a local artist’s donation of a painting showing a rabbit jumping out of a pot. The painting remains on the building’s façade.

That detail connects the name, the building and the artistic character of the place in one visible feature. Lapin Agile appears as stop 13 of 16 in Leplace’s Life as an Impressionist Artist in 1880s Montmartre route, which places the façade’s rabbit painting within the wider story of Montmartre’s artists.

For an independent walk through Montmartre, 22 Rue des Saules is worth seeking out for three connected reasons: the building dates from 1795, its 1904 conversion shaped its artistic role, and the rabbit painting still marks the façade.