No Speed Bumps

Yvette Guilbert (1865–1944) - Cabaret Singer and Belle Époque Actress

'Yvette Guilbert' - Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1894,  gouache)

Yvette Guilbert first came to my attention at university in the course of a Fine Arts degree ... as the subject of the above gouache by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.

More recently and with my quite rabid interest in late C19 French music hall (where is that coming from?), I became aware that by 1890 the French cabaret singer and Belle Époque actress was headlining at Le Moulin Rouge, along with such 'luminaries' as La Goulue (Louise Weber).

Yvette Guibert 'Saluant le Public' ('Taking a Bow') Henri Toulouse-Lautrec 1898

In his memoires, English painter William Rothenstein described Yvette Guibert's debut at the famed venue:

"One evening Lautrec came up to the rue Ravignan to tell us about a new singer, a friend of Xanrof, who was to appear at the Moulin Rouge for the first time... We went; a young girl appeared, of virginal aspect, slender, pale, without rouge. Her songs were not virginal - on the contrary; but the frequenters of the Moulin were not easily frightened; they stared bewildered at this novel association of innocence with Xanrof's horrific double entente; stared, stayed and broke into delighted applause."

The singer herself expanded on this impression in this artistic mission statement:

"I was looking for an impression of extreme simplicity, which allied itself harmoniously with the lines of my slim body and my small head ... I wanted above all to appear highly distinguished, so that I could risk anything, in a repertoire that I had decided would be a ribald one ... . To assemble an exhibition of humorous sketches in song, depicting all the indecencies, all the excesses, all the vices of my “contemporaries,” and to enable them to laugh at themselves ... that was to be my innovation, my big idea."

Singing raunchy songs of tragedy and lost love rooted in the Parisian poverty from which she'd come, Guilbert was to appear in other noted Montmartre venues, such as Jardin de Paris, Divan Japonais, the Eldorado Club and 'Les Ambassadeurs' ...

... usually wearing her trademark black gloves ...

 

Yvette Guilbert - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Litho, 1894)

... and Marilynesque plunging necklines ...

Yvette Guibert 1891

Naturally I was drawn to the ribald vulgarity of her songs, one of the most famous being 'Madame Arthur' (c1850 by Paul de Kock):

The lyrics to the song, translated are:

Ms. Arthur is a woman
That made talk, talk, talk, talk to her long,
Without newspapers, without anything, without calling
She had a crowd of lovers,
Everyone wanted to be loved by her,
Each of the courting, why?
Is that without being really beautiful,
She had an indescribable!
Ms. Arthur is a woman
That made talk, talk, talk, talk to her long,
Without newspapers, without anything, without calling
She had a crowd of lovers,
Ms. Arthur is a woman
Who was talking about her long.

Its size was very ordinary,
Her eyes small but sémillants,
Snub nose, his clear voice,
Its curved legs and wriggling
In short, looking at his face,
Nothing you put in commotion;
But behind her figure
Promised an indescribable!

Stuck by her lovers,
It was she who sent them
She loved the new ardor,
An old love he disliked
And each grief at heart,
Find more lyrics on similar 

In his heart no longer use,
Said, alas! another woman
Will not have its indescribable!
You should have seen the dance;
His enthusiasm was unmatched
By his movements, his bearing,
She was the Queen of the Ball
The rider facing it
His foot touched the nose, my faith,
Everyone applauded his grace
And especially its indescribable!

So what this lady lived?
Showing a large retinue,
Common in vaudeville, drama,
Nothing at the forefront told
She saw for the ordinary
Come an end without fear,
For then the owner
Admired his indescribable!

Oh! woman who are looking to do
Conquests of morning and evening,
In vain you go to please you
Hours in your mirror,
Elegance, grace mischievous,
Look, sigh of genuine,
Velvets, perfumes and crinoline
Nothing beats an indescribable!

 

I'm now even more pleased to be able to perform my own small reverential  act of resurrection as today I came across two little bits of footage of this famous chanteuse in a French documentary - firstly with Guilbert posing for the camera, and then giving a speech and singing at a gathering ...

It's great to have a person up close and personal, even in the form of film footage, after the remoteness of all those art images from way back when.