#AtoZChallenge: Quatre Gats (Picasso)

The inspiration for this Catalan café in Barcelona was the French café Le Chat Noir. The owner of the Els Quatre Gats had previously worked in Paris at Le Chat Noir. He opened the café in June 1897 and it quickly became a meeting spot for artists, poets, musicians, and others. Of course, Picasso and his friends were there quite often and exhibited their art at the café. Antoni Gaudí (architect) also was a patron of the Quatre Gats. Quatre Gats (Four Cats) in Catalan really means “only a few people.” As Wikipedia explains, “the phrase is usually used to describe people who are a bit strange, or perceived as outsiders.”

–Entrance to Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona, Spain

Els Quatre Gats went out of business in 1903 due to the generosity of the owner towards his artist friends. Beginning in 1899, a literary review was published with the same name and continued for a few years after the restaurant closed.

–interior of Els Quatre Gats

After Franco died, three businessmen reestablished the restaurant in 1978.

–drawing by Picasso of some of his friends at Els Quatre Gats

From the restaurant website:

Els 4 Gats, was a café in Barcelona (Catalonia) which opened on 12 June 1897. It also operated as a hostel, a cabaret, a pub and a restaurant. Active until 1903, Els Quatre Gats became one of the main centers of Modernisme in Barcelona. The artist Ramon Casas i Carbó largely financed this bar on the ground floor of Casa Martí (1896), a building by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Carrer Montsió near the center of Barcelona. Els Quatre Gats was reconstructed during the transition to democracy in 1978. Pablo Picasso visited this pub–restaurant often in his early art career.