Jean Georges Simon (1894-1968) Or Gyorgy Janos: "le Café Du Dôme"

Jean Georges SIMON (1894-1968) or Gyorgy Janos: "Le café du Dôme", Montparnasse, the roaring twenties, pencil drawing enhanced with red chalk, signed and dated 26 lower right, lower left, dim: 24 x 16 cm
The Dome, a symbol of the Roaring Twenties! Located at the corner of Boulevard Montparnasse and Rue Delambre, Le Dôme was founded in 1898 by Auvergne Paul Chambon. Originally, it was a small neighborhood bar-tobacco. From 1905, the establishment began to attract a clientele of Scandinavian, German and American artists, and established itself as a place of intellectual gathering. A billiard table is in the back room, monopolized by the first arrivals. The rest are playing poker. The atmosphere is warm, conducive to the birth of lasting friendships. The regulars discuss for hours, especially painting. It is said that at the time, a poor artist could order a Toulouse sausage and a plate of mash for the equivalent of a euro. Hemingway describes Le Dôme dans Paris est une fête: “There were models who had posed, and painters who had worked until the light ran out; there were writers who had completed their day's work, for better or for worse, and there were also drinkers and freaks, a few of whom were known to me and some of whom were mere extras. Thus the young painter of Bulgarian origin Jules Pascin arrived in Paris on December 24, 1905 aboard the Orient-Express. Become famous thanks to his satirical drawings published in Simplicissimus, a German anti-militarist and anti-clerical newspaper, he is greeted by his friends on the station platform. They bring him directly to the Dome for a big welcome party. The Dome becomes the HQ of Pascin. The great war breaks out. The general mobilization puts an end to the festive atmosphere of Montparnasse. The Germans leave Paris. French soldiers join the front. The survivors will return after the war to resume their habits at the Dome or elsewhere. From 1920 to 1929, Paris experienced ten years of effervescence. These are the roaring twenties. Young people want to enjoy life and forget the horrors of war. Art Deco buildings transform the urban landscape, the automobile is essential, household appliances revolutionize everyday life. The emancipation of women is becoming a hot topic. Indeed, following the departure of the men for the front, the women have already acquired a certain independence. Under the impetus of Coco Chanel, they adopted a fashion that represented their state of mind: a "boyish" cut, shorter skirts and more comfortable clothes, as opposed to the corset still worn during the Belle Epoque. . Paris is becoming the capital of renewal, and it is in the brasseries of Montparnasse that those who are its muse meet. In the interwar period, the Dome was undoubtedly one of the symbols of the Roaring Twenties. It is frequented by many wealthy Americans and Germans. The reception held on September 19, 1921 in honor of Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, stars of American cinema, is recorded in the history of the establishment. The regulars of the Dôme are called the “domiers”, a term coined to designate the personalities who frequented the place and which included, among others, Henri Cartier Bresson, Max Ernst, Foujita, Gauguin, Hemingway, Lénine, Modigliani, Pascin, Picasso, Soutine, Man Ray, Kandinsky… Le Dôme appears in the following literary works: The Strangers by Sandor Marai, The Guest by Simone de Beauvoir, Paris is a Party by Ernest Hemingway, The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre.