Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Au Hanneton - 1959

Le Hanneton ("The June Bug") was a popular Parisian

lesbian bar A lesbian bar (sometimes called a "women's bar") is a drinking establishment that caters exclusively or predominantly to lesbian women. While often conflated, the lesbian bar has a history distinct from that of the gay bar. Significance Les ...

of the 1890s and early 1900s at 75 Rue Pigalle in the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

district. It was owned and run by Madame Armande Brazier, who was the subject of a well-known lithograph by Toulouse Lautrec, ''Au Hanneton''.

History

The

brasserie In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves dishes and other meals. The word ''brasserie'' is French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing busine ...

was one of several

Belle Epoque Belle may refer to: People and fictional characters * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people * Southern belle, a stock character representing a young woman of the American South's upp ...

establishments in the Montmartre District that catered to lesbians, including also La Souris and

Le Rat Mort Le Rat Mort ("The Dead Rat") was a popular cafe/restaurant and cabaret in Paris in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Located in the Place Pigalle in the Montmartre District, it was frequented by artists, writers, actors, artist models, and pros ...

. It was opened in the 1890s by Madame Armande Brazier, an ex prostitute, who was also known as Amandine. The female clients of Le Hanneton and Montmartre's other lesbian establishments were described by journalist Jean Lorain as a mix of young and old, of cabaret singers, painters' models, housewives, and affluent society women. It was included in Parisian guidebooks of the era, as well as what was called the "Grand Dukes" tour, for affluent visitors who were curious about Montmartre nightlife. The ''Guide des Plaisirs a Paris'' (1899) described the bar as a "pathological curiosity". "The premises are small and low-ceilinged, with red curtains on the windows in a style reminiscent of brasseries managed by women. However, this brasserie is managed even more so for women...it is very rare that anyone of the virile sex is to be seen within its walls, while these 'emasculated women' eat in couples at the little tables, and then share a cigarette, before sharing even more."

Depictions in Art and Literature

Even though men were discouraged from entering the bar, it was frequented by the painter Toulouse Lautrec, who lived nearby, in 1897–1899. His lithograph, "''Au Hanneton''", shows Madame Armande at a table inside her bar. She is also depicted in his lithograph ''La Grande Loge'' ("A Box at the Theater"), where she is seated at a theater box with bisexual dancer Émilienne d’Alençon. In one biography of Lautrec, Armande Brazier is referred to as "Armande La Borgone" and is said to have treated Lautrec "with maternal affection" , while he referred to her as "La Gambetta" after a one-eyed politician because she only had one eye. Writer, singer, and lyricist Gabriel Montoya collaborated with the painter and lithographer

Odilon Redon Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolist painting, Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter. Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, Redon worked almost exc ...

on a series of depictions of various nightclubs and brasseries in Montmartre, which included Le Hanneton. In his 1896 ''Roman Comique du Chat Noir'' (Comic Novel of the Black Cat), Montoya dedicated the poem he wrote inspired by the Hanneton, ''Les Lesbienne''s, "to the ladies of the Hanneton and La Souris". In the poem, he describes the bar's customers as "perverse flowers of love" who "lean on their elbows, coquettish", and as "androgynes and sphinxes" who "nourish strange passions".

References

{{Reflist 1890s in women's history 1890s in LGBTQ history Lesbian history in France Drinking establishments in Paris Defunct LGBTQ drinking establishments LGBTQ drinking establishments in France Defunct lesbian bars

History

Depictions in Art and Literature

See also

References