L'absinthe or In a Café

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
In a Café, also called Absinthe
1873
Oil on canvas
H. 92; W. 68.5 m
Paris, Musée d'Orsay
Bequest of Count Isaac de Camondo, 1911

L’Absinthe remains one of Degas’s most celebrated works. It achieved a huge notoriety when it was exhibited in London in 1893, mainly because of the storm of controversy which it provoked in the press.

----

Unlike his Impressionist friends, Degas was an essentially urban painter, who liked to paint the enclosed spaces of stage shows, leisure activities and pleasure spots.

In a cafe, a fashionable meeting place, a man and a woman, although sitting side-by-side, are locked in silent isolation, their eyes empty and sad, with drooping features and a general air of desolation. The painting can be seen as a denunciation of the dangers of absinthe, a violent, harmful liquor which was later prohibited. Read more...