Cover

A Visit to the Great Jim Blalter at the Paris Chabanais

Le Chabanais was one of the best known and most luxurious brothels in Paris, operating near the Louvre at 12 rue Chabanais from 1878 until 1946.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a frequent visitor; he painted 16 tableaux for the house, now held in private collections. The poet Guy de Maupassant built a copy of the Moorish room in his mansion at the sea, so that he wouldn’t have to miss it during his vacations. “Bertie”, Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, often visited the Chabanais during the 1880s and 1890s. One room carried his coat of arms over the bed.

This portfolio of fifteen drawings is dated 1940 on the cover page. The hand drawn title is in German. The French government departed Paris on June 10th, 1940, and the Germans occupied the city on June 14th. The Germans kept the Chabanais open for their exclusive use throughout their occupation during World War II.

A Visit to the Great Jim Blalter at the Paris Chabanais is a portfolio of 15 drawings plus a cover page.

Illustrations