Chat Noir
The red-headed dancer in the black stockings accepts a drink from one of the customers.
"Absinthe? Oui monsieur, merci. merci beaucoup."
The dancer is one of the performers at the “Chat Noir” café in the Montmartre district of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century. It is a sultry night.
"Chat Noir" is a atmospheric snapshot of one night at the famous Montmartre café, run by Georges Sands. The figures in the nightly shadow play are designed by Pierre Bonnard, and performed to music by Erik Satie.
This fascinating small volume was written and printed by Peter Grant. The illustrations in the wood-cut style are by Frances Grant and printed in several colours. Only thirty copies have been produced, letterpress printed, and signed both author and illustrator.
Size 150mm x 150mm. 12 pages.
John Horn, the poet, was so inspired and intrigued by the publication – he considers it our best yet – that he wrote the following “eulogy”-
Le Chat Noir …
breathes its story into you
its soul captured in a magic pamphlet
that whispers scenes
more real than reality.
Listen to the cadence of singing images
read the living theatre of phrases
feel the hearts of characters
more alive than life.
Behold the ethereal beauty
of exquisite graphics
that dance in their stillness
like a frozen ballet.
Turn enchanted pages
that are wondrous dreams
from which you sadly awaken.
at the conclusion
of their spell binding narrative.
John Horn 2016
