This room was designed and built by Henri Schmit in 1903, at the request of Camille Blanc and in keeping with his indications. It was intended for male and female gamblers who couldn’t refrain from smoking. At the time, smoking was forbidden in the Gaming Rooms, after a blackmail attempt involving the habits of a croupier who let his ash fall on the floor.
The Italian artist Massimiliano Gallelli (born December 17th, 1863, in Cremona, Italy) had his own notion of painting when he was requested to decorate the room’s ceiling at the beginning of the 20th century. He usually painted religious subjects or genre paintings. A meeting-point for smokers, the room inspired him to think of buxom nudes with impressive cigarillos : “Les “Fumeuses”.
Effects using perspectives, the uniform tones of the composition make this ceiling a truly original work of art.
We owe to the same artist the portrait of François Blanc which hung for several decades on a wall in the Casino’s Board of Directors’ room. It is now to be found in the office of the Gaming Management department.
Restored in 1968 by decorator André Levasseur, the Salon Rose became home to automatic machines in 1988.
In 1999, with the slot machines removed, it was transformed into the restaurant “Le Buffet”. Reserved for players, this gastronomic port-of-call lived in tune to the seasons. Gaming tables finally took possession of the premises in 2006.
