Bateau-Lavoir

Bateau-Lavoir (Washerwomen's Boat). A cluster of tumbledown studios in the rue Ravignan, Montmartre, Paris, where several artists who later became famous lived and worked in the early years of the 20th century, most notably Picasso. He lived there from 1904 to 1909 and held on to his studio until 1912. Others who lived there at the same time included van Dongen, Gris, and briefly Modigliani. The building had begun life as a piano factory and was converted into studios in 1889. Rents were cheap, reflecting the primitive conditions (there was no gas or electricity), and it became a place of seedy allure, associated for a time with anarchist activity. Largely under the influence of Picasso's personality it became a literary and artistic centre and it is usually regarded as the birthplace of Cubism (it was here that Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon). Among the writers who lived there were the poets Max Jacob and André Salmon, both of whom have been credited with coining its name—a reference to the fact that in windy weather parts of the rickety building would sway like laundry boats moored in the Seine. In 1969 André Malraux declared the Bateau-Lavoir a historical monument, but it burned down the following year. A new complex of artists' studios was erected on the site, now 13 Place Émile-Goudeau.