Absinthe Influence on Artists
How did absinthe influence artists like Degas, Manet, van Gogh and Picasso, and writers like Verlaine,
Rimbaud, Wilde and Hemingway?
Absinthe – because of its beautiful and ever-changing green colour, its air of danger and seduction, and above all because of its allegedly
psychoactive properties - was romanticized and captured in artwork and writings by countless artists, playwrights and authors. The
surrealist Alfred Jarry, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, Picasso,
Hemingway and many others all featured it prominently in their works. All these artists were celebrated not just for their work, but also for
their often outrageously bohemian lifestyles. Some even went mad, or at least behaved as if they were (facts that would later be used by
prohibitionists as proof of absinthe's evils).
Degas' groundbreaking L'Absinthe (1876) pictures two forlorn-looking café patrons staring out beyond their milky-green drinks. Although
the people pictured were merely actors, this painting later roused intense comment for its unprecedented gritty realism. Edouard Manet,
took this even further by daring to paint an actual drunkard with absinthe, titled The Absinthe Drinker (1859).
Perhaps the most famous of all absinthe drinkers was Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh painted many of his works in ochres and pale greens,
which are the colours of absinthe. Many of these paintings also depict the bar in which Van Gogh drank absinthe, and himself with glasses
of the apéritif. It's widely, but almost certainly incorrectly believed, that Van Gogh went mad from absinthe poisoning. As is often the case,
the truth is more complex.
Van Gogh was throughout his life an outcast and a depressive who suffered from epileptic fits and bouts of psychotic attacks. He also
drank a lot of absinthe while living in Arles with Paul Gauguin, and was prone to deeply eccentric behaviour – such as painting outside at
night with candles hooked to his hat. He was sent to a sanitorium in 1888 after he was forced out by a petition from people in his town who
were frightened by his bizarre ways. He never acted violently, excepting when he sliced off his own ear during a psychotic fit.
Van Gogh certainly drank excessive amounts of absinthe, and he did suffer from mental deterioration - however, the one does not
necessarily follow the other. Van Gogh's family had a history of mental illness, and van Gogh not only drank absinthe, but also turpentine
on several occasions (it's interesting to note that thujone, the active ingredient in wormwood, is a terpene). He committed suicide in 1890,
clearly deeply disturbed over and above the consequences of his absinthe drinking.
Rimbaud, Wilde and Hemingway?
Absinthe – because of its beautiful and ever-changing green colour, its air of danger and seduction, and above all because of its allegedly
psychoactive properties - was romanticized and captured in artwork and writings by countless artists, playwrights and authors. The
surrealist Alfred Jarry, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, Picasso,
Hemingway and many others all featured it prominently in their works. All these artists were celebrated not just for their work, but also for
their often outrageously bohemian lifestyles. Some even went mad, or at least behaved as if they were (facts that would later be used by
prohibitionists as proof of absinthe's evils).
Degas' groundbreaking L'Absinthe (1876) pictures two forlorn-looking café patrons staring out beyond their milky-green drinks. Although
the people pictured were merely actors, this painting later roused intense comment for its unprecedented gritty realism. Edouard Manet,
took this even further by daring to paint an actual drunkard with absinthe, titled The Absinthe Drinker (1859).
Perhaps the most famous of all absinthe drinkers was Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh painted many of his works in ochres and pale greens,
which are the colours of absinthe. Many of these paintings also depict the bar in which Van Gogh drank absinthe, and himself with glasses
of the apéritif. It's widely, but almost certainly incorrectly believed, that Van Gogh went mad from absinthe poisoning. As is often the case,
the truth is more complex.
Van Gogh was throughout his life an outcast and a depressive who suffered from epileptic fits and bouts of psychotic attacks. He also
drank a lot of absinthe while living in Arles with Paul Gauguin, and was prone to deeply eccentric behaviour – such as painting outside at
night with candles hooked to his hat. He was sent to a sanitorium in 1888 after he was forced out by a petition from people in his town who
were frightened by his bizarre ways. He never acted violently, excepting when he sliced off his own ear during a psychotic fit.
Van Gogh certainly drank excessive amounts of absinthe, and he did suffer from mental deterioration - however, the one does not
necessarily follow the other. Van Gogh's family had a history of mental illness, and van Gogh not only drank absinthe, but also turpentine
on several occasions (it's interesting to note that thujone, the active ingredient in wormwood, is a terpene). He committed suicide in 1890,
clearly deeply disturbed over and above the consequences of his absinthe drinking.
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