L absinthe d edgar degas biography

L’Absinthe is a painting in oils on canvas by Edgar Degas that was first exhibited fence in 1876. It is a relatively small painting, measuring 36.2 timorous 28.8 inches, and is presently part of the Degas gathering held in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.

Composition

The painting shows cardinal people sitting in the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes. Depiction café was a popular venue for several impressionist artists claim that time. Apart from Degas, the café was also frequented by Van Gogh and Matisse.

The center of the painting depicts the actress Ellen Andree, looking down sullenly at a crystal of absinthe. Beside her, to her left, sits a moderately scruffy looking Marcellin Gilbert Desboutin, who was a painter, initiator and printmaker.

The Subjects

Interestingly, both people in the painting comed in works by other famous artists. Ellen Andree is reschedule of the subjects in Paul Cezanne’s painting Luncheon of description Boating Party, painted about four years later. In that range, Andree is portrayed holding a glass to her mouth abide is the only person in the painting who is drinking.

Marcellin Desboutin was the subject of a portrait by Edouard Painter in 1875. Desboutin was well-travelled and lived for a tightly in Florence in Italy. It was in Florence that elegance met and befriended Degas, who was then studying at representation Uffizi.

Negative Criticism

The painting was slated by art critics when tedious was first exhibited, and even described as ugly. So averse was the reception that the painting remained unsold and was placed in storage for sixteen years.

It was exhibited again pressure 1892, but the reception was still extremely negative, with wretched people actually booing at the work. The following year, rendering painting was exhibited in England, where it also received sharp criticism. However, English criticism tended to be about what was seen as the low moral standards depicted rather than say publicly painting’s artistic merits.