Le Bateau Lavoir

Montmartre & Northern Paris


In the late 19th century and early 20th century impoverished artists Max Jacob, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso – who painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) here – set up their studios in this location. The original Bateau Lavoir, nicknamed 'boat washhouse' after the building's boat-like demeanour (dark, swayed in the wind), burned down in 1970 and was rebuilt one door down in 1978. The racing-green shopfront has a series of old photographs; artists still work here today.