''L'Absinthe'' (English: ''The Absinthe Drinker'' or ''Glass of Absinthe'') is a painting by

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

, painted between 1875 and 1876. Its original title was ''Dans un Café'', a name often used today. Other early titles were ''A sketch of a French Café'' and ''Figures at Café''. Then, when exhibited in London in 1893, the title was changed to ''L'Absinthe'', the name by which the painting is now commonly known. It is in the permanent collection of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Description

Painted in 1875–76, the work portrays a woman and man sitting side-by-side, drinking a glass of

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...

. They appear lethargic and lonely. The man, wearing a hat, looks to the right off the edge of the canvas, while the woman, dressed more formally in fashionable dress and hat, stares vacantly downward. A glass filled with absinthe is on the table in front of her. The models used in the painting are

Ellen Andrée Ellen Andrée (born Hélène Marie André; 7 March 1856 – 9 December 1933 Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

's paintings '' Chez le père Lathuille'' and '' Plum Brandy'', and

Marcellin Desboutin Marcellin Gilbert Desboutin ( Cérilly 26 August 1823 – 18 February 1902 Nice) was a French painter, printmaker, and writer. Desboutin always signed himself ''Baron de Rochefort.'' Biography Desboutin was born in Cérilly, Allier on 26 ...

, a painter and etcher. The café where they are taking their refreshment is the Café de la Nouvelle-Athènes in Paris. Marcellin Desboutin graphite self portrait with hat and pipe

Marcellin Desboutin graphite self portrait with hat and pipe

Reception

At its first showing in 1876, the picture was panned by critics, who called it ugly and disgusting. It was put into storage until being exhibited again in 1892, but was again treated with derision. The painting was shown again at the Grafton Gallery in England in 1893, this time entitled ''L'Absinthe'', where it sparked even greater controversy. The people and the absinthe represented in the painting were considered by English critics to be shockingly degraded and uncouth. Many regarded the painting as a blow to morality; this was the general view of such Victorians as Sir

William Blake Richmond Sir William Blake Richmond KCB, , PPRBSA (29 November 184211 February 1921) was a British painter, sculptor and a designer of stained glass and mosaic. He is best known for his portrait work and decorative mosaics in St Paul's Cathedral in ...

and

Walter Crane Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and K ...

when shown the painting in London. That reaction was typical of the age, revealing the deep suspicion with which Victorian England had regarded art in France since the early days of the

Barbizon School The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name f ...

, and the desire to find a morally uplifting lesson in works of art. Many English critics viewed the picture as a warning lesson against absinthe, and the French in general. The comment by George Moore on the woman depicted was: "What a

whore Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

!" He added, "the tale is not a pleasant one, but it is a lesson". However, in his book ''Modern Painting'', Moore regretted assigning a moral lesson to the work, claiming that "the picture is merely a work of art, and has nothing to do with drink or sociology."George Moore, ''Modern Painting'' (London: Walter Scott Publishing, 1898), p. 269.

References

External links

Green Fairy: The symbol of liberté
— Examines ''L'Absinthe'' as a fitting example of the "nervous fear that the decadent ways of the Continent might reach the shores of the British Isles".

* ttp://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/60673/rec/6 ''Degas: The Artist's Mind'' exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art fully available online as PDF, which contains material on ''L'Absinthe'' (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Absinthe, L' 1876 paintings Absinthe Paintings in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay Paintings by Edgar Degas Food and drink paintings

Description

Reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links