Willette a. - ink - la purée-saint germain - portrait of eugénie buffet - 28. 8x20. 5cm; the woman represented is undoubtedly eugénie buffet (1866-1934), famous music hall singer, founder in 1902 with her companion, the painter léopold stevens, of the short-lived cabaret "la purée" at 75 boulevard de clichy which closed in march 1903 due to the demolition of the building:
“i founded, on new bases, a new cabaret, in the heart of montmartre, boulevard de clichy, under the name cabaret de la purée. For my opening show, i brought together the names of: philippe garnier, louis marsolleau, vincent hyspa, delphin, marcel legay, émile ronn, léo daniderff, victor tourtal and the great artist louise france. The comparison, in particular with period posters, like the one produced by his companion, leaves no doubt about the identification. The drawing bears the handwritten note “hyspa invenit a. Willette delexit”, as is customary in the margins of engravings; vincent hyspa is therefore the designer of this composition and willette the director; however “delexit” is a barbarism, perhaps an erroneous extension of the usual abbreviation “del. » (for “delineavit”) to indicate the designer, or even an incorrect perfect of the latin verb “delego” (we could then understand “a. Willette by delegation”), but other interpretations could be considered, the barbarism possibly being intentional. Vincent hyspa (1865-1938) was an actor, writer, composer, comedian and singer who performed in the cabaret in question: "i started about ten years ago at the chat noir and here i am now at the purée". The symbolism attached to st germain and the keys remains to be clarified; it certainly goes further than the humor linked to "la purée saint germain", a puree of split peas which was apparently served for the first time at the inauguration banquet of the railway line from paris to saint-germain in 1837.
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