![]() Seems like the absinthe is the only cure for their sad and disappointed face expressions. These low existences represent the boredom, emotional coldness and detachment from nature which came with the rapid development of Paris in the second half of the 19th century. Degas used these individuals as a symbol for the isolation and oppression many people, especially the bohemians and workers who didn’t profit of Industrialisation, suffered from. ‘ L’Absinthe‘ represents the increasing social isolation in Paris during its stage of rapid grow. He favored painting ballerinas, milliners, laundresses, cafe scenes and denizens of Parisian low life. As a painter, Degas observes the modern life and paints it as it is, without embellishments, but also without blatant judgment or false morality. Degas’ choice of subjects reflects his modern approach. At the time the painting was painted, Paris was growing rapidly, the industry was changing the landscape and a new era was on the horizon. The cafe they’re sitting in is the Cafe de la Nouvelle Athenas a famous meeting place for the Impressionists, both Degas and Van Gogh regularly visited the cafe, and many artists after such as Matisse. The model for the lady with sad eyes was an actress Ellen Andree who also posed for the other Impressionists, such as Renoir. ![]() Model for the man was Marcellin Desboutin, a painter, printmaker and a bohemian. Painted in grey and brown tones, this painting represents not only isolation and oppressive atmosphere of the city, but also the emotional aspect of the scene the emotional burden of boredom and the meaninglessness of life. Their position in society is questionable as is their reputation. ![]() The two individuals obviously have nothing else to do, for they are sitting in a cafe in the middle of the day doing nothing. Their shadows can be seen on the wall, perhaps suggesting that they are themselves shadows of life, with their beat appearance, melancholic gazes, and the overall aura of resignation around them. The lady, who is also formally dressed, sits with a glass of Green Fairy, that is, Absinthe, in front of her. The man with a black hat on, is smoking a pipe and distractedly watching into the distance. The painting shows two isolated individuals who sit estranged in a cafe, waiting for the gray and lonely Parisian day to turn into something better. It does seem dull, gray and lifeless at the first sight, but there’s something so appealing about this raw representation of modern life. The critics were absolutely repelled by it they considered it ugly and disgusting, while the characters were deemed degraded and uncouth. What’s hiding behind this, on the first sight, simple cafe scene in Paris? Who is this gentleman and the lady sitting sadly net to him? Are they sad, or just tired and exhausted from the life in the city?Įdgar Degas painted this painting called ‘ L’Absinthe’ in 1876. After the second, you see things as they are not. The presence of the shadow of the two figures painted as a silhouette reflected in the long mirror behind them is also expressive and significant.” After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. The off-centre framing, introducing empty spaces and slicing off the man's pipe and hand, was inspired by Japanese prints, but Degas uses it here to produce a drunken slewing. ![]() The painting cast a slur on their reputations and Degas had to state publicly that they were not alcoholics. The picture was painted in the studio and not in the cafe.ĭegas asked people he knew to pose for the figures: Ellen André was an actress, and an artist's model Marcellin Desboutin was an engraver and artist. But this impression is deceptive because, in fact, the real life effect is carefully contrived. The framing gives the impression of a snapshot taken by an onlooker at a nearby table. Parallels have been drawn with Zola's novel L'Assommoir written a few years later and indeed the novelist told the painter: "I quite plainly described some of your pictures in more than one place in my pages." The realistic dimension is flagrant: the cafe has been identified – it is "La Nouvelle Athènes", in place Pigalle, a meeting place for modern artists and a hotbed of intellectual bohemians. The painting can be seen as a denunciation of the dangers of absinthe, a violent, harmful liquor which was later prohibited. 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. 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. Our fine art prints are just the way to add that beautiful finishing touch to a room Printed on archival quality paper and a perfect matte finish for.
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