General Information

Le Bateau-Lavoir is a building famous in art history as the residence and meeting place for a group of early 20th-century artists, men of letters, theatre people, and art dealers. It’s located at 13 Rue Ravignan at Place Émile Goudeau, just below the Place du Tertre. It was the place where Picasso painted his famous ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’.

Additional Information

The name Le Bateau-Lavoir was coined by French painter Max Jacob. On stormy days, the dark and dirty, scrap-pile-looking building swayed and creaked, reminding people of washing-boats on the nearby Seine River – hence the name. Some sources suggest that the structure was a manufacturing facility in the past.
The building stands on a small, cobblestone square that was known as Place Ravignan. In 1911, it was renamed Place Émile Goudeau after a popular novelist, poet, and journalist. The square now has a Wallace fountain and is planted with chestnut trees.