The Absinthe Drinker (In a Cafe), c.1875/76 Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

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We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

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Once the painting The Absinthe Drinker (In a Cafe) is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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Late 19th-century Paris bohemia reverberates through this canvas, yet it is infused with a curiously somber energy. Painted in c.1875/76, the work captures a time when artists and writers congregated in the enticing yet precarious world of the café scene. The location - identified as La Nouvelle Athènes, a hotspot of avant-garde thinkers in Place Pigalle - suggests a hub of restless creativity. Despite this context, the mood here is starkly quiet, underscoring the dangers associated with absinthe and its corrosive effect on those who succumbed to its spell. Literary parallels abound, such as with Zola’s L’Assommoir, reinforcing the painting’s powerful cautionary note.

The composition is structured around a bold off-center framing, influenced by Japanese prints. By cropping the man’s hand and pipe at the lower edge, the viewer experiences the discomfort of a moment that feels both uncomfortably close and slightly haphazard. Yet this apparent spontaneity was meticulously orchestrated in the studio rather than on-site. The shadows cast behind the figures in the reflective mirror - mere silhouettes - further the sensation of isolation and emphasize that these two people, though adjacent, appear more distant than ever.

Perhaps the most striking aspect is the subdued color palette. The palette is dominated by grayish-browns and muted whites, rendering the café’s ambiance heavy and airless. The woman’s pale attire emerges as a faint glow, illuminated by faint touches of warm tones in her skirt and the tabletops. This restrained use of color aligns with the broader sense of urban alienation: a palette that mirrors the mental fog of drinkers absorbed in their own despondence. Even the glass of absinthe, placed unassumingly on the table, feels drained of any inviting brilliance.

In terms of technique, the artist’s brushwork marries precision with subtle suggestiveness. Though the overall setting has the immediacy of a street corner snapshot, brushy passages around the faces and fabrics reveal an informed artifice. Ellen André and Marcellin Desboutin posed for these roles, leading to real-life controversies that forced clarifications regarding their sobriety. Therein lies the painting’s core tension: it looks like a raw slice of modern life - a fleeting moment in a fashionable café - yet it is shaped with careful deliberation, resulting in a scene that is at once factual and quietly unsettling.