Well, let me tell you somethin’ about this painting, “The Absinthe Drinker” by Edouard Manet. It’s from way back in 1859, and some folks say it’s his first big work. Now, this ain’t no fancy painting with pretty flowers or nice-lookin’ people. Nope, it shows a fella sittin’ there, drinkin’ absinthe. You know, that strong green stuff they used to drink in Paris, back when times was tough and folks was lookin’ for ways to forget their troubles.
This fella, he don’t look like he’s livin’ the good life. Oh no, he looks like someone who’s been through hard times. They call him a rag-picker, someone who’s pickin’ through trash tryin’ to make a livin’. Can you imagine that? Well, in this painting, he’s just sittin’ there with his drink, mindin’ his own business, like life done him wrong, and the absinthe is all he’s got left to hold on to.
Manet, the fella who painted this, he wasn’t too fond of how other painters were doin’ things. He studied under this big shot, Thomas Couture, but after a while, he was like, “Nah, this ain’t for me.” So, he opened up his own little studio and started paintin’ what he felt was real. And this painting, well, it’s real alright. Real raw, real gritty.
Manet’s Inspiration
Now, where did Manet get his idea for this paintin’? Well, some folks say he was lookin’ at older artists like Velázquez. That Velázquez fella painted all sorts of characters like beggars and philosophers, and it seems Manet wanted to do somethin’ similar. He wasn’t tryin’ to paint somethin’ pretty for the fancy folks, no sir. He wanted to show life the way it really was for some folks, and for this rag-picker, it weren’t no bed of roses.
There’s another fella who painted absinthe drinkers too, Edgar Degas. His painting, “L’Absinthe,” also showed folks sittin’ in a bar, drinkin’ that green stuff. But Manet, he was ahead of him, paintin’ this poor soul long before Degas got to it. This absinthe stuff was kinda controversial, you know? It wasn’t just any old drink. People said it made folks go mad, and there was talk that it could make you do terrible things. But for these folks, it was a way to forget, even if just for a little while.
The Painting’s Story
This painting, when it was done, Manet decided to send it to the Paris Salon, which was this big art show where all the fancy folks went to see what was new. But the judges, well, they didn’t like it one bit. I guess they thought it was too rough, too much like real life. They didn’t want to look at no rag-picker sittin’ there with his absinthe. So, they didn’t accept it. But you know what? That didn’t stop Manet. Nope, he kept on paintin’, kept on doin’ things his own way.
After a while, folks started to see the value in what Manet was doin’. His work, includin’ “The Absinthe Drinker,” ended up in museums. Right now, it’s sittin’ in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. It was one of the first modern paintings they added to their collection. Can you imagine that? A painting they didn’t want in the Paris Salon is now sittin’ in one of the biggest museums around.
Absinthe and Its Dangers
Now, let me tell you somethin’ about absinthe. This green drink wasn’t no joke. Back in the day, folks would drink it like water, but it had a bad reputation. Some said it could drive a man mad. Even famous folks like Vincent van Gogh were known to drink it, and look what happened to him. They say all that absinthe might’ve messed with his mind, leadin’ to him cuttin’ off his own ear. Scary stuff, ain’t it?
But for folks like the one in Manet’s painting, absinthe was a way to escape, even if just for a little while. Life was hard, and this drink helped them forget about their troubles. Maybe that’s why Manet painted this fella, to show how life ain’t always easy, and sometimes folks turn to whatever they can to make it through.
So, when you look at “The Absinthe Drinker,” you ain’t just seein’ a man drinkin’ a strange green drink. You’re seein’ a whole story about a man who’s been through tough times, tryin’ to make it in a world that ain’t always kind. And that’s what makes this painting special. It ain’t about the drink, it’s about the man, his struggles, and the life he’s leadin’.
Tags：[Edouard Manet, Absinthe Drinker, Paris Salon, 1859 painting, Velázquez, Degas, Absinthe dangers, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]
