Painting "Absinthe" - the road to nowhere

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic drink (over 72 degrees), which was prepared on the basis of wormwood with the addition of mint and anise. This cheap spirit appeared in the eighteenth century and was first popular among ordinary workers because of its cheapness. Then it began to be widely used in bohemian circles. But absinthe is a hallucinogen, it caused aggression and addiction, like drug addiction, and severe convulsions. Its use was banned in 1915. It is produced under the brand name "Perno" to this day.

Absinthe Painting

In France, it is believed that for the first time the work was exhibited at the second exhibition of the Impressionists called "Absinthe". In 1876, part of the Impressionists refused to visit Courbet's favorite cafe "Gerbois", where it was too noisy. They began to meet at the Pigalle dance in the New Athens cafe. Edgar Degas, the author of the painting "Absinthe", portrayed his friends - the actress Ellen Andre (who in life was a well-groomed woman, served as a model for both Renoir and Gervais, danced in the Folies Bergère) and artist Marcelin Debutin. Debutin squandered his considerable fortune, did not receive fame as an artist and gradually fell. The work illustrates the mannersParisian life, raises the problem of alcoholism, which was described by other artists, including the writer E. Zola. The artist did not seek to show life “beautifully”. He provided the viewer with a glimpse into the realities that surrounded him.

The medium was the painting "Absinthe".

Image analysis

In bohemian Paris, two people suffer from loneliness, even being close by. Their faces are gloomy. They look like people detached from reality. Both are dressed sloppily, especially the man. He does not look at his companion, his face is puffy from the fact that he regularly drinks. Near the man is a tall glass with mazargan. This drink was used to relieve a hangover. The woman has a dull, absent look, her shoulders are lowered, her face is pale due to the abuse of absinthe. The legs are ugly stretched forward. She does not follow them, and they are arranged in a row. In front of her stands, apparently, not the first glass with unclear-greenish absinthe. The model dilutes him with water from a bottle standing on a nearby table. Their solitude is emphasized by the compositional construction. Degas placed the pair on an inclined plane. This is a tribute to fashion. In Europe, then everyone was fond of Japanese engraving with its unusual perspective and surprisingly accurate drawing. In addition, the couple occupies only the right corner of the picture, the remaining two-thirds are half-empty tables. They have newspapers, matches, an empty bottle. Even with complete loneliness together, the inner closeness of these people is still preserved. They are united by one thing - the loss of hope. The picture "Absinthe" is simply full of hopelessness, which in no small partdegree enhances the faded color.

At an exhibition in London

In 1872-1873, the painting was exhibited across the Channel and caused outrage among the well-meaning Victorian public. Degas analyzed the scene without any complacency, with a clear and critical look. Most of all, when considering his work, the naturalism of E. Zola, and possibly Toulouse-Lautrec, is recalled. The painting "Absinthe" is in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

Picasso's work

The theme of loneliness, isolation and emptiness in cafes is not new. In the second half of the 19th century, it can be found in the works of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. But in the paintings of the young Spanish artist there was still no sense of drama. Picasso has not yet moved to Paris. He visits here from Barcelona. At 22, he is attracted by a popular story related to the general passion for absinthe. He was given special properties that allowed him to awaken the imagination, push him to a new perception of the world and creativity. The painting "The Absinthe Drinker" by Pablo Picasso has a very strong emotional impact.

Firstly, the plot completely exposes the psychology of a woman. A faint semblance of a smile is written on the face, sarcasm, doom and fatigue. It is immediately clear that the woman's thoughts are somewhere far away. Here she is absent. Nobody needs her, only absinthe is her friend and comforter. Secondly, color. It is built on a gloomy contrast of dull red and blue and is comparable to gloomy life collisions from which there is no way out. The bluish marble table continues this theme of emptiness that surroundswoman in her desperate loneliness. The frozen body of a woman only reinforces this impression. She cringed all over. The right hand is deliberately changed in proportions, completely completing the oval and turning the woman off from this world. The painting was painted in the autumn of 1901 in Paris and is in the Hermitage.

Van Gogh

In 1887, Van Gogh's painting "Still Life with Absinthe" appears. It is concise.

There is a bottle of water and a glass of absinthe on the table. A man is seen leaving through the window. Perhaps he was sitting at this table. But something else is more interesting. The problem of alcoholism, which confronted the artist himself. He himself willingly used this drink, which causes, among other things, visual impairment. This leads to the fact that the whole world appears in yellow tones. Perhaps that is why there was a period when the painter's paintings were dominated by yellow, especially during his life in the south of France. Passion for absinthe led to a clouding of consciousness in 1888, when he cut off his ear. The painting is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

And the conclusion is the simplest.

It is very easy to come to alcoholism, and the result is terrible.