The owner of the "Lapin agile",Père Frédé was the former owner of a small literary café called Zut. With his guitar and distinctive beard, he was a colorful eccentric known to all the artists and intellectuals. The Lapin was a building swathed in greenery, with a bar, a dining room, a terrace, and a profusion of animals The interior was dark, cleaned and polished every day by Frédé’ s wife, Berthe la Bourguignonne. From time to time, Frédé would tune his guitar and announce an artistic evening. All present would sing or recite poetry. Several artists had painted or hung sculptures on the walls, including Picasso who had done a number of nude figures with a single blue brush stroke and a portrait of his friend Jaime Sabartès.