Café de la Rotonde
| Company type | Café and brasserie |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Founder | Victor Libion |
| Headquarters | Paris , France |
Area served | Montparnasse district, Paris |
| Products | Traditional French cuisine, beverages |
The Café de la Rotonde is a distinguished café and brasserie situated at 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse within the Montparnasse district of Paris. Established in 1911 by Victor Libion, it gained recognition for its association with artists and its traditional French cuisine. Located on Place de Pablo Picasso, close to the Monument to Balzac, La Rotonde belongs to a collection of legendary Montparnasse venues such as La Coupole and Le Select. These spots were celebrated during the interwar years for drawing in creative figures and writers, offering an inviting setting combined with reasonable pricing. Unlike many contemporaries, La Rotonde has retained much of its original bohemian spirit and continues to attract both residents and tourists.
Cultural History
La Rotonde served as a gathering place for prominent artists including Pablo Picasso, who was a regular visitor around 1914 due to the café’s proximity to his studio at 242 Boulevard Raspail. There, he mingled with fellow creatives like Diego Rivera, Federico Cantú, Ilya Ehrenburg, and Tsuguharu Foujita. The English painter Nina Hamnett also developed a friendship with Amedeo Modigliani at this establishment, which now features numerous reproductions of Modigliani’s artwork.
Victor Libion, the founder, supported budding artists by permitting extended stays with minimal purchases and frequently accepted artworks as payment, effectively assembling an informal collection of valuable pieces. The café’s reputation further increased when socialite Peggy Guggenheim settled nearby in 1920 and favored La Rotonde for its tolerant policy on terrace smoking.
Artists such as Rivera, Cantú, Ehrenburg, and Foujita immortalized café life through their creations; Foujita’s etchings A la Rotonde (1925) and Le Café de la Rotonde (1927) vividly portray its lively atmosphere. Although Picasso’s painting In the cafe de la Rotonde (1901) predates the café’s founding, it captures the cultural environment surrounding it.
Author Ernest Hemingway mentioned La Rotonde in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, underlining its importance as a Montparnasse landmark. Photographer Jean Cocteau’s 1916 portraits of Picasso, Modigliani, and others later inspired Billy Klüver’s 1997 publication A Day with Picasso.
On 6 April 2023, amid nationwide pension reform demonstrations, protestors ignited the awning of La Rotonde causing only minor damage; the café is known as one of President Emmanuel Macron’s favored Parisian establishments.